Momoko
by Thief of Dreams
Summary: "It's what he calls me when no one else is around." Kougyoku centric; JuKou
1. Blossoms

ToD: I'm so hopelessly obsessed with these two, and JuKou fans seem like they need some more quality content. I'm also experimenting with some writing techniques relating to character development and imagery/scenery, so I decided to write this like a sort of memoir. I intend to expand into events spanning pretty much the entire series if I get the chance, so hold out for updates ;)

* * *

 **Momoko**

 **Chapter 1: Blossoms**

It's what he called me when no one else was around.

In our native language of the Tenka region, it means "peach blossom child". He gave me that name the first time he saw me.

"Kou-gyo-ku is too hard to remember," he had said, struggling with my given name's pronounciation. "I'm just gonna call you Momoko instead."

It can't have been coincidence, that the two of us little children had been sitting in the grove of peach trees in the imperial palace garden on that breezy spring morning. The pink petals of the virgin peach blossoms danced in the wind all around us. He liked to pluck the petals off the branches he would snap off the trees and then toss them into the wind to watch them fly.

I had been upset at first, not understanding what the name meant.

"No no no! It's Kougyoku! I'm a princess you know! You have to say it right!"

He burst into a fit of laughter. From then on, I'd always know that laugh of his. He'd clutch his stomach and he'd laugh and laugh, and he'd dry the beads of tears from the corners of his eyes with the sleeve of his priest's robe.

My face reddened and screwed up with a sniffle. He stopped laughing, but still sported that smirk of his.

"Okay then, how about Momoko-hime?"

Peach blossom princess.

He told me what it was those words meant, as he plucked a flower from the branch and put it in my hair ornament. I forgot all about wanting to cry.

"There, see? I think it suits you."

He tousled my hair, and my face got hot. I hid the redness of my cheeks behind my sleeves.

"W-well...what's your name?"

The smile faded from his lips. His eyes darkened.

"I don't know."

"Huh? What do you mean you don't know? You have to have a name, right?"

"Yeah...I have one. But it's not my real name. It's just what all those old guys and that witch call me."

"What is it then? Tell me, tell me!"

He didn't get to tell me himself.

"So this is where you've been, Judar?"

Empress Gyokuen and her court magicians had found us. She smiled sweetly at us, and then she knelt down next to him and patted his head.

"How nice of you to play with the princess. Such a good little boy you are."

Despite her praise, his face was lined with a scowl. Then she grasped his hand and dragged him away.

"I'm afraid playtime is over now. You've got magic lessons all day today."

He didn't turn his gaze from me as they pulled him away. There was a plea in his eyes that I'll never forget. It was the same expression I saw every time I held a mirror to my face.

 _I don't want to be alone anymore_.

"Wait!"

Stumbling over the hem of my robes as I clambered to my feet, I ran after him. I grasped onto his other hand.

"I'm gonna call you Judar-nii!" I declared fervently.

He froze like a startled fawn.

"It's because you live here in the palace with us...with me and my brothers and sisters. So you're family now!"

He was speechless. His cheeks flushed a little pink. Pink as the peach blossoms.

"How darling." Gyokuen remarked. I can still remember the pinprick of venom behind the honey of her voice as she wrenched Judar out of my grasp.

"Come along now." She said as she lifted him up and stuffed him into a palanquin, carrying him out of my sight.

After that day, I made it a routine to visit the garden and the peach tree saplings. I'd roll in the dewy bed of fallen petals in the mornings, I'd sit in the shade and sew my dolls' clothes in the afternoon, and I'd watch the flowers drift into the moonlit aqueducts at night.

Whenever I could manage to escape my attendant, that's where I would go. And I would wait. Many times, too many to count, he was never there. But still I waited.

I was starting to think that I wouldn't see him at all anymore. That somehow we had done something wrong by being near each other, and they had decided to hide him away from me. All the flowers had fallen from the trees, and the foliage was starting to fade from green to gold. The wind nipped at my fingers and nose. I had buried my face into my sleeves and curled up under the tree with my doll.

"You're really weird, you know? Coming to this spot all the time."

I looked up just as he flopped down under the tree next to me. I lit up brighter than the flickering evening lanterns.

"Hi, Judar-nii!"

"Geez, what are you getting all excited for? Were you waiting for me all day or something?"

"Uh...w-well I ―"

He snickered. "You were, weren't you? Haha, oh man! All those brothers and sisters, but nobody wants to play with a dumb little brat like you, eh Momoko?"

"Wh-what?! How rude! I waited all this time to play with you again and you say a thing like that to me?"

My eyes burned with tears. "Never mind then. I'll just go back to my room.'

"Uh—hey! Wait!"

I started to leave when he grabbed my hand. I looked back and he seemed slightly ashamed.

"Er...I was just kidding, you know? Lighten up."

I pouted.

He rubbed the back of his head.

"Oh, I know! Wanna see something cool?"

He withdrew a wand tipped with a red crystal from his sash and pointed at the tree. Suddenly there was a rush of cold air, and I hid my face in my sleeves. When the wind stopped and I looked up again, the gold leaves glittered with frost.

'Wow...pretty!"

He chuckled, pleased with himself. "Those magic lessons with that old granny might be boring, but I'm learning to do all kinds of cool stuff! Check this out..."

He trotted over to the bridge and I followed. With another wave of his wand, the water in the aqueduct turned into crystals of ice. Soon enough the whole aqueduct had frozen, and the leaves that fell rested neatly on the ice.

I giggled and clapped my hands. "Wow Judar-nii, that's amazing! Can you teach me to do tricks like that?"

"What? No way, you can't be a magician."

"Aww, why not?"

"Well, your rukh are just like a normal person's after all. You can only do magic if you're born a magician."

"What's a rukh?"

"Oh right, it's invisible to normal people. Well, it's easier if I just show you."

He raised his wand and it coalesced with a dazzling white light, and all around him I saw little white birds made of light. Just as the rukh were so enamored with him, I couldn't help but be captivated by this radiant person.

"Wow, so a magician gets to play with all these little birds?"

He puffed up his chest and put his hands on his hips. "Yep! And that's not all. I'm one of the strongest magicians in the whole world. Granny said there's only two other people who are just like me. But you know what? I'm gonna be even stronger than they are!"

He floated up to the railing of the bridge, triumphantly holding aloft his wand.

"I'm the great Magi, Judar! Sorcerer of creation and crowner of kings!"

I laughed and cheered for him as he grandstanded in the rays of moonlight, forgetting not to draw the attention of our elders to us. This time it was me who was dragged away.

"There you are princess! I've been looking everywhere for you!"

My attendant, Ka Kobun, practically tripped over himself as he rushed up behind me.

"What are you doing out of your bed at this hour? And monkeying around with this unruly little rascal at that! My word, just look how dirty you are, were you sleeping on the ground again? How many times have I told you―"

Suddenly, Kobun howled as Judar hopped off the railing onto his toes.

"Hey, old geezer. Shut up, will you? We were just playing."

"Why you snot-nosed little urchin!" Kobun shouted as he swiped at Judar with his fan. Judar just hopped out of the way and floated up to a rooftop, laughing and blowing raspberries.

Defeated, Kobun scooped me up in his arms and hoisted me over his shoulder. "It's bedtime now, princess."

Judar followed after me in the air. "Hey, Momoko-hime! Wait for me again tomorrow, okay?"

I ignored Kobun chiding me about not concerning myself with an ornery runt, and I waved back to him.

"G'night Judar-nii!"

I was pleasantly surprised when he actually came to meet me the next day. He also brought me a gift.

At first I wasn't sure he was going to come, what with the way the falling red sun splashed the sky with the pink and gold of our peach trees. Then I heard rustling in the branches, and something round fell onto my lap.

"Hey, Momoko-hime. I got you a treat."

I looked up to see him tangled in the branches, happily nibbling on an orange-pink fruit. The same fruit he had dropped into my lap.

I held the plump fruit in my tiny hands, fascinated with its fuzzy skin. I rubbed it against my cheek.

"What are you doing, you weird girl? Just eat it."

"But I've never seen this before...it's so nice and soft. What is it?"

"Huh? You mean you've never had a peach before? We eat peaches all the time for dessert in the palace. Maybe you've never had a whole one. I bet that old geezer that takes care of you cuts them up so you won't chip your baby teeth on the pit. Hahaha!"

My lip quivered as he teased me again. "Don't you still have your baby teeth? You're not that much older than me."

"I am too. Look, I already lost a bunch of mine."

He stretched out his lips with his fingers to show me all the gaps in his teeth, beaming with a wide grin.

I laughed.

"What's so funny?" He growled.

"Your face!" I giggled.

Apparently he didn't like the taste of his own medicine. He flicked his wand at me and a gust of air knocked me onto my bottom, blowing leaves all over my clothes and in my hair.

I fumed and got back to my feet as he cackled at me. I picked up a fallen branch and waved it menacingly.

"Why don't you come down here, then? I bet you're not so tough without your fancy wand!"

"No way. Why don't _you_ come up _here_? If you can that is."

My cheeks burned and my eyes stung. He never failed to get a rise out of me. I unhappily admitted defeat and tossed the stick against the tree trunk, clenching my fists.

"I don't know how to climb. And that's too high." I whined.

He sniggered uncontrollably. "I knew it. You're just a baby after all. Well little baby Momoko, if you ask nicely I might help you up here. It'll be harder for the adults to find us if we hide in the branches."

I pouted, but I conceited to him. "Um...can you please help me come up there?"

He feigned consideration. "Weeeeell, I dunno. You were kinda rude just now."

"Ah! No fair, you started it! You're always teasing me! Maybe I'll just leave after all!"

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding! Now hold still, I've never done this before."

He pointed his wand at me and I began to feel tingly and light. Then my feet left the ground and I was floating like he did the day before. I was frightened and elated at the same time. He lifted me into the branches and I grasped hold of the nearest limb. With a little effort, I was able to sit astride the tree limb.

"Aww, I forgot my peach."

With another flick of his wand, the peach floated up to me.

"Th-thank you, Judar-nii!"

"Whatever. Eat your peach already."

I bit into the luscious yellow fruit, giggling softly as the fuzzy skin tickled my tongue and the juices dribbled onto my chin.

He seemed pleased while he watched me devour my treat.

For the remainder of the evening, we lounged in the tree and talked about all the silly little things that children tend to talk about. But as the moon climbed into the starry sky, there's part of the conversation that stuck with me.

"Hey, Momoko-hime. I wonder how I'm supposed to choose a king."

I had no idea what any of it meant at the time. I simply listened to him lament.

'The old guys and the witch say that I'm supposed to guide kings and reshape the world. They say that I'm going to make Kou into the greatest nation the world's ever seen. I dunno how I'm supposed to be able to do any of that. I'm not even sure I really want to."

He had been so proud the day before, now he looked as though he just wanted to disappear.

"Well...maybe I can help. Kobun says that since I'm a princess, I'm gonna have to learn a lot and work really hard so I can serve my country when I'm all grown up. Maybe we can just be friends and help each other do whatever it is we're supposed to do."

I think it was then that I saw the first and last real smile to ever grace his face. It was the smile of a child who, like I, had known great sadness, but had yet to know anything like anger or hatred.

"Hey, so you like peaches right? They're my favorite."

"Yeah! Peaches are wonderful!"

"Did you know they come from these trees?"

"Huh? But these trees are kinda small. I've never seen fruit growing on them."

"Well, not yet. They're not big enough. The Empress had them planted in this garden for me. She says when they get bigger, the flowers will turn into fruit."

"Wow, really?"

"Yeah, so when we grow up, the trees will grow up with us, and then we can have all the peaches we want."

I almost couldn't sleep that night, as it was with most nights after I saw him. I felt like I had all those little birds fluttering around inside me. My head was filled with misty fantasies of us growing alongside the peach saplings, dancing and laughing and just being near. Never being alone. Was this what they called friendship?

Call it the naivete of a little girl, but I truly believed it would never change. When you're small, time seems so much longer. Even as you grow, it seems like your world just stays the same. You can't even fathom being anywhere other than right where you are, and you can't imagine things like your mother and father becoming old and grey.

But then as I watched the seasons change, I would see him change as well. Just as one can do nothing to keep the cold from stripping the trees bare, I too was powerless in the face of his metamorphosis.

I discovered this one fateful night when the garden was blanketed with fresh snowfall.

"You dumb girl. You'll catch your death out here."

His gaze had darkened as much as the cloud covered sky. His words had the bite of the wind's chill.

"If you keep waiting out here for me, your toes and fingers will turn black and fall off. Just go inside and forget about me. I don't have time to deal with little kids."

Hot tears eased the numbness of my cheeks.

'B-but I...I waited so long again. I wanted to―"

"I said forget it. Just leave already. Don't come around here anymore. I won't be here."

My throat tightened, but I bit my lip. I fought the urge to sob. I dug my fingernails into my palms. I stood up and met his cold gaze with the fire in mine.

"You're here right now."

"So? I had to tell you. Otherwise you'd just keep sitting out here like the stupid little girl you are."

"I'm not stupid. I just wanted to see you."

"Well, forget about it already!"

"No! You're my friend, aren't you?"

"No, I'm not!"

"You're lying!"

"Shut up! What do you know? You don't know anything!"

I flung myself around his waist and buried my face into his chest.

"Stop it! Stop it, Judar-nii! I don't care how mean you are! Y-you're family, remember? You'll always...you'll always be..."

I couldn't help it. I soaked his robe with my sobs.

He grasped my shoulders, crinkling the sleeves of my robe in his fists.

"You don't understand. I can't. I just...c-can't―"

I looked up, astonished to see his expression mirroring mine. His chin quivering, his teeth clenched, his eyes red and puffy.

A strange blackness leaked from his eyes, smearing down his face, dripping dark spots into the snow.

"Judar-nii? What's wrong with your eyes? There's black stuff on them."

"What? Oh..."

He brushed his face with his sleeve. The blackness left a smudge on his robe.

"It's called kohl...some kind of makeup. It's from Heliohapt, and they make it using minerals from the Dark Continent. The witch started painting it on my eyes. She says it'll help me see the world the way it's supposed to look, or something weird like that. I don't get it."

He sniffled and finished drying his face. I had stopped crying, but there were still tears rolling down my cheeks. I stared at him in an emotionally drained stupor.

"Er, well...it looks kinda cool though, doesn't it? _Bleeeghh!_ "

I shrieked as he threw up his hands and stuck out his tongue. His streaked makeup gave him a scary face. I ran and he chased me around the trees, making growls and ugly faces like an ogre. I pretended to be scared but I couldn't stop myself from laughing.

"Got you!"

I yelped as he crashed into me and we rolled in the snow, laughing hysterically. We caught our breath and sat up, clutching our sore stomachs and rubbing at our runny noses with our sleeves.

I was relieved to have re-awakened the part of him I knew to be real.

"Aww man...that old hag's gonna be mad at me when she sees I've ruined my makeup."

He stood up and brushed the snow off his robe.

"I should probably go before they find us again."

"Hey, Judar-nii...did you really mean what you said? You don't want to be my friend anymore?"

He sighed. "I don't know...it's complicated, alright? I don't really have time to explain everything, and you probably wouldn't understand anyhow. Look, I'm not gonna tell you not to wait here for me. You can do whatever you want. Just know that you probably won't see me for a long time."

"But it always takes a long time to see you. I don't mind. I'm used to being by myself."

He cast his gaze aside and ran his fingers through his hair. "No, I mean a _really_ long time. I'm supposed to be leaving the country soon. So if you're just sitting here waiting all the time, you'll catch a cold."

"You're leaving? Wh-why?"

"It's not like I want to. They're taking me away. I'm almost finished with my magic training, and then I'm gonna have to travel around the world to begin my work as a Magi. They said I have to start making the dungeons appear. Like I'm supposed to know what that means..."

Then suddenly he was startled, as if he'd been disturbed by something.

"Come on!"

He took my hand and pulled me to my feet, tugging me along as we ran towards the far end of the garden. We took cover in a thick growth of bamboo. He held a finger to his lips and pointed to the walkway, where two of the veiled court magicians were currently searching for us.

"Judar-nii," I whispered, "why are they always trying to keep us away from each other? Is it bad that we're friends?"

"It's because us kids being friends isn't on their agenda. They don't want anything distracting me or getting in the way of what they want me to do. Me, you, your brothers and sisters, we're all being groomed for some great purpose, and we don't get a say in any of it."

He grasped me about the shoulders and pulled me close to whisper into my ear.

"Listen to me Momoko...Kougyoku...whatever you do, don't go near those people wearing the veils. Don't go near Empress Gyokuen if you can help it either. Keep close to your family. Stay close to Ka Kobun. He may be a pain, but he cares about you and he'll keep you safe. Do you understand?"

I didn't understand. "Are they bad people?"

"Do you remember that big fire? The one that killed Hakuyuu and Hakuren? The one that hurt Hakuryuu so badly that he's still not healed? It wasn't an accident, Kougyoku. They're very dangerous people. They're trying to do something awful here in this country. I just don't know what it is. Even as close as I am to them, they keep me in the dark the most.

My heart pounded with unease. "What's going to happen to you, Judar-nii? You sound so scared...you're scaring me."

"...I don't know. This will probably be the last time we'll see each other like this. I don't know where I'm going or when I'll be coming back."

I choked down another sob, trembling in his arms. "I don't want you to go. I'll be lonely all over again. You're the only one who tries to visit me, you know? I'll miss you so much."

He squeezed me even tighter. Our wet cheeks touched.

"It'll be okay. I promise I'll come back. So just...just wait for me. Alright, Momoko-hime?"

"Okay, Judar-nii."

"I have to go now."

He left me there in the garden, feeding the court magicians some lie about wanting to go for a walk at night. Once they were gone I snuck back to my room.

I discarded my cold, wet silks for some clean and dry bed clothes, and I went to wash my face in the basin. I paused when I caught my reflection in the mirror.

There was a small black smudge of kohl on my cheek. Being the silly little girl I was, I told myself that I shouldn't wash it away. It was the only thing I had that would remind me of him. If I washed it off, I might forget him. So I went to sleep with that smudge on my cheek.

Of course, the very next day Ka Kobun made a fuss about it. He said that if I wanted to wear makeup, he would show me how to do it properly when I'm old enough.

I asked him if I could wear kohl on my eyes.

"Oh no, your highness. That's too heavy and dark for a pretty young lady like you. Besides, it's also rare and rather hard to obtain. Don't you worry, when the time comes I'll show you how to choose nice colors to brighten up that lovely face of yours. Things like rose, or champagne, or―"

"Peach?"

"Why yes, that's a good one."

Then the fated day he spoke of came. The day when he disappeared for years.

A huge crowd had gathered, and it was like a parade from the palace to the docks. My brothers and I were accompanying our father the Emperor to bid Empress Gyokuen farewell as she boarded the ship. There was a procession of her court magicians; hundreds of them. It was almost as if they were going to war.

Then finally they brought the palanquin. There was so much liveliness and excitement, all the cheering and shouting of "glory to the Kou", "praise to the Magi", "lead us to victory", so on and so forth. I struggled to get a good view amidst the applauding palace guards, and I whined at Ka Koubun to lift me up. He complied, hoisting me onto his shoulders.

As the palanquin drew near, I waved and called for him. But when I finally saw him, I fell silent.

Even back then, as young and foolish as I was, I could sense it. There was something very different about him that day. Different and wrong. Terribly wrong. Even with all the festivities and high energy around him, he was still and silent on his throne. His gaze was unfocused and cold, almost as though he was blind. He seemed to be in some dark place away from everything. It felt like he had been hollowed out into a little wooden doll.

As they carried him aboard the ship, I called for him. "Judar-nii!"

He didn't answer. He didn't even seem to hear me, even though we were but mere feet from each other. I wanted so desperately to be able to say goodbye, or to have him just look at me once more. I wailed and howled his name until my throat was raw. He didn't move.

As was typical of me, I ended up bawling my eyes out as the ship disappeared on the horizon. Everyone else had gone back to the palace, but I demanded that Ka Kobun stay on the dock with me until I could no longer see the ship. He tried his best to console me while I drenched his uniform with my sobs. He told me I wouldn't be alone, that he'd always be there for me. But I knew better than to believe my attendant was truly someone I could call a friend.

I must have cried until the tears refused to come out anymore that night, mourning the figurative loss of my only friend.


	2. Birthday

**Chapter 2: Birthday**

Months later, my birthday came. Like all my other birthdays, I was practically alone. Ka Kobun took me into Rakushou's merchant district to look for a gift, but my heart wasn't in it. He exhibited luxurious dresses, finely made dolls, sparkling jewelry, and fragrant perfumes. None of it slaked my longing. All I truly wanted was to see my friend.

When he'd nearly given up and was about to take me home, I finally spoke up.

"I want peaches."

"Peaches? Why on earth would you want something as plain as that?"

"Because...Judar-nii likes them."

"Ah, I see. I think I know just the thing."

He brought me to a fancy restaurant, where the air was filled with delectable, sweet scents. He told me it was a fine dining establishment that specialized in baked goods and desserts. He ordered for me, and then a short while later I was presented with a cast iron skillet full of something cake-like. Amidst the rich scent of buttery caramel, cinnamon, and nutmeg, I detected the unmistakable smell of that luscious yellow fruit.

"This is a peach cobbler, your highness. I hope it's to your liking. Go ahead, dig in."

I tasted the warm dessert, and it was better than any birthday cake I'd ever had. The familiar flavor of the yellow fruit brought those few cherished times I had spent with my friend flooding back to me. I made a silent vow to enjoy peach cobbler with him when he returned.

Before I knew it, I was welling up again. I rubbed my eyes.

"Thank you, Ka Kobun. Thank you so much. This is perfect."

"Of course your highness. Anything at all for your happiness. I want you to know that I understand what it's like to be lonely and miss your friend. I had to leave behind many of my friends to come and work in the palace with you, after all. I love my job, but sometimes I miss the people I had been close with growing up."

One of the vassals accompanying us jeered him. "Friends? _You_ , Ka Kobun? The only people you've ever been close to are the ones you stabbed in the back or sucked up to!"

"Shut up, you!"

I laughed for the first time in a while. Even though it was at his expense, Ka Kobun seemed content that I had finally cheered up.

Once I had finished my peach cobbler and it was cleared away, Kobun placed a small box tied with a pretty red cord in front of me.

"I actually took the liberty of choosing a gift for you, princess. You're old enough now to begin your tutelage. I wanted to commemorate the occasion, and pledge to you that I shall do my best to give you the finest education possible, befitting a member of the Ren royal family."

I was taken aback. It was the first time I had really been presented with an actual birthday gift. I'd had plenty of birthdays where things were bought for me, but never had someone decide on their own to give me a gift. The only thing that had come close was when Judar brought me a peach.

"Well? Go on, open it."

I delicately untied the cord around the decorative wooden box. He'd had my name and a motif of flowers and butterflies etched into the wood by a skilled artisan. I opened the lid on its hinges, and there inside the box nestled in a velvety cushion was an elegant gold hair pin. Cresting the pin was a large, glimmering ruby set in a delicately fashioned gold flower and butterfly wing.

"It's...so beautiful!"

"It reminded me of you, because in our language your name means _red jewel_. I wish for you to consider this a token of our everlasting friendship."

I got up and threw my arms around him. "This is the best birthday I've ever had! Thank you so much, Ka Kobun!"

"Happy Birthday, Princess Kougyoku"

I haven't gone a day without wearing that hair pin since.

•••

The following week is when my tutelage began. I didn't have anything else preoccupying me, so I threw myself into my studies. The first thing I learned was reading and writing, and I actually enjoyed it quite a bit. Once I had progressed to an intermediate level, I began reading books on my own for fun. I discovered the palace's massive library and spent the majority of my time there. I'd even encounter my older brothers every once in awhile, though they would often be too busy to spend any meaningful time with me.

My favorite things to read were tales of bravery and adventure. I particularly enjoyed _The Adventures of Sinbad._ For the longest time, I'd never known or imagined anything beyond Rakushou. I knew of the seas, but never wondered what was beyond them. Reading opened up the whole world for me, and suddenly I dreamed of riding horses out into the open country with my brothers, or sailing beyond the ocean horizon on our fleet of Junk ships.

My favorite novel also taught me about the metal vessels and their power of kings. I'd caught bits and pieces of information about them from my brothers' conversations amongst themselves. In fact, Kouen had already acquired two metal vessels by the age of 16, and Koumei had just recently gotten one for himself. I asked Kouen about them one day. He told me "perhaps, one day you shall know, but now you need not concern yourself." By reading about Sinbad's conquests, I finally understood what my elder siblings were seeking out, and what Judar's purpose was.

" _I wonder how I'm supposed to choose a king."_

From then on, it was like a bright flame had been stoked within me. I wanted to obtain the power of the kings just as my older brothers had. I wanted to do it so that I could help him. I wanted to do it so that he didn't have to be alone. I wanted to do it so that those people he was so afraid of couldn't hurt him anymore, and I knew they'd hurt him somehow.

Day after day, I worked even harder and pushed my limits. Ka Kobun was astounded at how determined of a student I was. It was a complete transformation from that helpless little girl I was when he found me. I pored through all my books and buckled down through my etiquette lessons. I demanded that Ka Kobun teach me every subject at his disposal, even ones that weren't normally reserved for women. He was a bit hesitant, saying he could be risking his job by teaching me such things. I told him that if he didn't, he wouldn't have to worry about it because I'd be replacing him. I was starting to discover that infamous streak of Ren family intimidation within myself.

Soon I had mastered advanced calligraphy, history, mathematics, world geography, and some fundamentals of Kou's civics and economics. I suspected that Ka Kobun didn't delve too far into my political studies because he didn't want to stick his neck out much further than he already had. The clandestine designs of those people in the veils that Judar had warned me about...it wasn't hard for me to draw the conclusion that they affected Ka Kobun as well. If I learned more than they deemed necessary, I would be too difficult to manipulate. Perhaps they would decide to spirit away my faithful attendant as well...just as they did with my only friend.

I played a gambit of my own against them. I continued my studies, but I did so without the guidance of Ka Kobun. Instead, I told him I wasn't interested in all those difficult subjects anymore, and elected for studies in wistful, feminine things like poetry and philosophy. And when his lessons were over, I'd make more trips to the library under the guise of acquiring literary materials, hiding scrolls of Kou's political and military records amongst armfuls of classical literature. I'd pretend to act out theatre by myself in the gardens while I eavesdropped on tea parties amongst the nobles as they gossiped about the country's political affairs. No one suspected a thing from a silly young girl with her head in the clouds, after all.

As time went on, I grew increasingly restless. I wasn't satisfied with just my academic prowess anymore. While I prided myself with the knowledge I had worked so hard to obtain, there was something else that the elders of the Ren family possessed that had been kept out of my reach.

The art of warfare. The skills of weaponry. I knew my country was deeply embroiled in war, and while I was apprehensive about this knowledge, I came to the belief that it was my duty as a member of the Ren royal family to fight for my country, strengthening and protecting it with my own might.

I was well aware of the burden my elder brothers shouldered to protect us younger siblings. I saw it in Kouen's stony demeanor; he wanted to ensure no one doubted his strength so that he could instill the same strength in everyone else. I saw it in the dark circles plaguing Koumei's eyes as he brooded over his battle plans night after night. The two of them suffered in silence so that the rest of us could lead comfortable, care-free lives.

It was not desired for the women of the royal family to become involved with the military, but I knew for certain that I wasn't the only female who harbored this motivation. Many times I had already seen my cousin, the first princess Hakuei, practicing in the training yards with the soldiers. She had become very skilled with horseback riding, archery, and swordplay. She would spar with her attendant, Ri Seishun. Now that prince Hakuryuu had recovered from his grievous injuries, I'd sometimes see him practicing with his sister as well. The two of them seemed determined to improve their combat skills, and it wasn't a stretch of the imagination for me to assume it had something to do with the death of the first emperor and his eldest sons.

So then one day, once I considered myself grown enough to handle it, I broached the subject over afternoon tea.

"Ka Kobun, are you learned in swordplay?"

"Of course, your highness. One of my sworn duties is to protect you at all costs. Luckily, the need has never arisen, and I hope for both our sakes that it never will. Why do you ask?"

"Because I want you to instruct me."

He did a spit-take.

"Compose yourself, Ka Kobun. You nearly spit tea all over my silks."

"Forgive me your highness," he fussily dabbed up the mess with a napkin, "but my ears must be failing me. I thought I heard you say that you want to be instructed in swordplay."

"You heard correctly. Starting tomorrow, I want you to accompany me to the training yard and teach me how to wield a sword."

"That's preposterous. I'll do no such thing."

"You aren't allowed to disobey me. Need I remind you that I can still easily find a replacement for you?"

"I will disobey when it concerns your personal safety and well-being, princess. I can't allow you to play around with swords, they're incredibly dangerous."

I slammed my hands on the table. He flinched.

"You think this is just for my own amusement? I'm not asking to do this out of some misguided desire to alleviate boredom, Ka Kobun. I'm fully aware that there is danger involved. I take this very seriously, and I intend to do it even if you choose not to help me. I can always go to the training yards and learn by watching the soldiers and practicing on my own. I'm allowed to do as I please."

Kobun's face blanched until he was nearly the same color as the porcelain tea set.

"P-princess...please, I urge you to reconsider! Have you even taken the time to think about what it is you are saying?"

"Of course I have. I didn't wake up this morning and make this decision on a whim. I've already put a monumental amount of thought into this. My country needs the steadfast support of its leadership, and I refuse to take on a passive role the way all my other sisters have. Several of them are already engaged to marry the monarchs of the foreign nations we've expanded our influence to, and they're barely even old enough to be considered adults. I've decided that I would rather serve alongside my brothers with a sword in my hand, the same way Hakuei has already dedicated herself to. Otherwise, what's the point of all this effort I've put in to be knowledgeable, if I'm just going to end up as the arm ornament of some strange man in a far-off place?"

Mortified, Kobun threw himself onto his knees and scrambled over to me, clasping my hands tightly.

"Princess Kougyoku...I so greatly admire your noble sentiment, but please, there's no need for you to blister your hands with the weight of steel and dirty them with blood! Not when I would do so at your beck and call like the low-born dog that I am!"

"You mustn't speak of yourself in such a manner, Kobun. You are not a dog, and your birthright means nothing to me. I too am low-born, and it was your words that once inspired me to make something greater of myself. If not for you, I'd still just be the second Emperor's worthless illegitimate child. I can't even imagine what would have become of me now if you hadn't become my vassal."

I got to my feet and held my hand out to him.

"So then, will you continue to work hard and help me become the best that I can be? Can I continue to rely on your unwavering support, so that I may realize my dream of joining my siblings and strengthening our country?"

Kobun grumbled, but he took my hand.

"Under one condition," he said as he got back to his feet, "you must obtain permission from your eldest brother, his highness Prince Kouen."

When I asked Kouen, he laughed. At first, it didn't seem like he took me seriously.

"You're sure this is what you want? You would give up the sanctity of life in the capital for the grueling path of a warrior?"

Wholeheartedly, I answered in the affirmative.

"Very well then. Why don't you train with your brother Kouha? I'm sure he could use the outlet for his aggression."

The first time I met Kouha was in the training yards. Like me, he had been hidden away as a disgrace until recently. He was so full of rage and violence. When we practiced on the straw dummies, he'd disregard the techniques being taught and slash wildly, reducing the straw to a pile of dust. He'd always want to use a sword that was too big for him. He even injured our Sifu on a few occasions. It was best just to placate him and let him do things the way he saw fit. Slowly, he managed to calm down, and we were able to spar. He'd almost always win, just because I was still terrified of him. He became quite skilled with those large swords and he even seemed to develop his own techniques. Almost like he was a prodigy. I was a bit envious.

Kouha explained to me that he wanted to become the best with swordsmanship because of what Kouen told him. He could become a valuable asset to the Emperor on the battlefield, thus proving his worth and allowing him and his mother to be freed from the solitude and ridicule. Our goals weren't so different, so every day when we practiced together, we became a little closer. It was nice to finally have a real sibling relationship.

The best days were when Kobun would train me one on one. Our military's swordsmanship trainer had taught me well, but he seemed disgruntled with having to take on a young girl as a student. Once I'd gotten past the basics, Kobun was in charge of teaching me advanced techniques and daily sparring. As always, he was patient and considerate, and he allowed me to learn at a pace I was comfortable with. Though sometimes, it felt like he babied me a little too much.

Just as Kobun warned me, I'd train so hard that my hands would blister and bleed. There were days when my hands were so cramped and bloodied, that I couldn't do anything with them. Kobun would always fuss over me and lecture me about pushing myself too hard while he bandaged my battered hands. I always told him that this very temporary pain was nothing compared to the crushing loneliness I lived through as a small child.

I got stronger and stronger every day. Soon I was dueling the trainee soldiers in tournaments, and winning. My brothers would sometimes attend to see how I was doing. I swelled with pride whenever Kouen would watch me, the corners of his mouth upturned ever so slightly. Kouha began to get frustrated during our matches, telling me not to get any better because it'd be embarrassing to lose to his little sister. I placated him, but only a little, making sure to keep him on his toes whenever we sparred.

About a year later, Kouha and I were given honors and awards for all our efforts, and the Emperor and military leaders held a graduation ceremony for us, where we got to be recognized for our skills alongside the newest regiment of soldiers. We were each presented with our own custom made weapon. Kouha received his huge _Niyou Rentou_ sword that was practically as tall and heavy as him. I was given an ornately decorated _Jian_ , with a ruby encrusted pommel and a gold butterfly motif in the cross-guard that matched my hairpin. I had a hunch that Ka Kobun helped the blacksmith with the design.

Being formally commended for my efforts didn't slow me down. I continued to hone my skills as much as I could. Kobun said I had reached a level of skill where he no longer had anything to teach me, and I should start looking to learn from my more experienced siblings when I had the chance. I was hoping to be able to practice with Kouen, but of course he was hardly ever available.

Early one morning, I came out to the training yard to practice on my own. I drilled a new set of sword forms that I found in a Tai Chi scroll, rehearsing the names of the stances like I would the lines in a play.

"Crane spreads its wings...blue dragon raises its head...swallow skims the water...flying star chases the moon…"

I heard someone clapping. I froze.

"You're so elegant, miss Kougyoku!" A sweet lady's voice spoke from behind me.

I flushed deep red, whirling around and bowing low, my sword tucked under my arm.

"G-good morning, miss Hakuei! Er-I mean- princess!"

She chuckled. "You can just call me Hakuei. I'm sorry I startled you. I came to practice too, but I couldn't help watching you. I'm so impressed, it's like you're telling a story."

"Uh...th-thank you. I'm sure I'm ages away from being as good as you, though. I like to watch you train too. Actually, it was because I saw you training first that I wanted to start learning."

Hakuei smiled. "You honor me. It's great to have inspired another woman of the Ren family to accept the path of the warrior. Let's both continue to do our best."

Just then, Hakuryuu came marching up the steps to the arena, his _guan dao_ resting against his shoulder.

"Good morning, Hakuryuu." His sister greeted him.

I followed suit with a bow and the Kou salute. "Good morning, Prince Hakuryuu."

He didn't speak, but he returned our courtesy with a bow and a salute. His eyes remained fixed to the ground, harboring a deep mixture of sorrow and anger behind a mask of detachment. It reminded me a lot of the way Judar looked the day he left.

He trudged past us and went to go practice on a dummy.

"Hakuei...when your brothers died and Hakuryuu got hurt so badly, it made him really sad, didn't it?"

"...Yes. I want so much for him to have a new life with a fresh start. But I know all that pain will probably never go away for him.

"Do you think it would help if I could be his friend? I mean, we're still family after all, right?"

Hakuei's expression flashed with a glimmer of hope, but it quickly faded to dejection.

"I suppose it's worth a try, but I wouldn't get your hopes up. He only ever seems to want to talk to me. Most of the time he just wants to be left alone."

I had a feeling that if I could get someone as violent and angry as Kouha to calm down a little, then I could get someone as grief stricken and lonely as Hakuryuu to cheer up a bit. I wasted no time with my approach.

"Hey, Hakuryuu let's train together! I've never sparred with anyone who uses a _guan dao_ before, can you show me some moves?"

He was stunned. Frozen like an anxious little fawn. I'd seen that look before too. I knew exactly what he needed.

I took his hand.

"It's okay. I haven't been training as long as you have, so you'll probably beat me at sparring all the time. But my vassal doesn't have anything else to teach me, and I need a new training partner. What do you say?"

He glowered, pulling back his hand. He doubted my intentions. I remembered the way Judar spoke of his mother, and I couldn't fault him for it. I only continued to smile warmly in response.

"You can say no. I understand if you just want to be alone. But I'll still be here almost every day if you change your mind. I can practice with Hakuei and Seishun instead. How about I give you some time to think about it?"

I made to leave.

"W-wait!"

I turned to see him flushed and his lip quivering.

"Er...I-I would like it if we practiced together." He stammered.

"Really? You mean it?"

He squinted and nodded fervently.

I scampered back over to him and leaned in close so he'd look up at me.

"Come on then, chin up! Let's see what you can do. I might be a little wet behind the ears still, but I won't go easy on you."

He went from being flustered to looking pumped up. "Is that so? I'll accept your challenge."

Hakuei sniffled, wiping tears from her eyes.

"Hey, Hakuei you should practice with us too!" I said.

"Oh, don't mind me. I'll just supervise. You two have fun."

Going forward, I trained with Hakuryuu and Hakuei as often as I could. I tried to focus on helping them create pleasant new memories while continuing to bolster my skills. Hakuryuu was indeed very adept and a difficult opponent, but once he came out of his shell little by little, I found him to be just as patient and encouraging as Ka Kobun. And of course Hakuei was almost always there to nurture the both of us.

When the cold crept back in and the days became darker, I gave myself some repose from training. And then one quiet winter day, Ka Kobun brought me a letter. When I saw who it was from, I bundled up and rushed outside to my favorite spot in the garden to read it.


	3. Lunar Festival

**Chapter 3**

 **Lunar Festival**

 _Momoko-hime,_

 _Have you learned to write at all the whole time I've been gone? Or have you forgotten about me already? Some friend you are._

 _Not that I care all that much, but sometimes I wonder how you're doing. I bet you're still a crybaby all the time, especially since you miss me so much._

 _How are those peach trees? Are they big enough to make fruit yet? You better not eat all the fruit before I get back!_

 _You're probably dying to know what I've been up to. I've been all around the world making the dungeons appear. It's actually really cool! I just point my wand and then these huge buildings appear out of nowhere. Then people are supposed to go inside and try to pass trials and defeat monsters so they can get the treasure. There's been two other Magi like me who have been doing it way longer than I have, but they're old and don't really do it anymore, so now it's my turn. Not many people have been able to conquer the dungeons. It's mostly been people who are already kings with armies to help them._

 _There's one of the king's candidates I've met that isn't a king though, and he's trying to make a new country. His name's Sinbad. He's a jerk._

 _Anyways, I've mostly been in Parthevia all this time. The witch says there's a "convergence of the flow of fate" here. Whatever that means._

 _Whenever we're done here, we should be heading back home soon. We're going to Qi'shan, then Balbadd, and then when we get back to Kou we'll be on a long trip to raise dungeons within the borders._

 _Take care,_

 _Judar_

I had collapsed into the crisp, fresh blanket of snow with the scroll of parchment crumpled against my chest. I stared up at the bare tree branches and let the drifting snowflakes kiss my cheeks and nose. The trees seemed a little taller, but I had been so busy with my studies and training that I never came to see if they had grown any fruit. I felt a little ashamed, like I'd neglected the thought of my friend after all.

But my heart swelled again when I realized that it didn't matter. He was coming home soon, and when late summer arrived we could find out together if the trees would yield fruit. I giggled when I imagined it.

Ka Kobun soon found me and badgered me about getting my clothes wet and catching a cold. I went inside with him and tucked the letter away in one of my keepsake chests.

I drafted a reply, but there were some complications about sending it to him that made me uneasy. I took my letter to Koumei, since he was in charge of communications with the rest of the military. He told me that he hadn't received any communication from Empress Gyokuen, written or otherwise, in all this time. He was surprised to learn that I had received a letter directly from Judar, and was wondering how I'd gotten it. Ka Kobun said that it had come with a lone courier pigeon.

One of the priests in veils came forward when he heard our conversation. He was wearing a mask and said his name was Ithnan. He told me he could ensure that my letter reached the Magi promptly. I declined. I didn't trust that those people wouldn't pry into my private conversations with my friend. I had my doubts that they hadn't already done so with Judar's letter.

Dejected, I hoped Judar would understand, and resolved to keep him in my thoughts. I imagined him jabbing at me about it further when he arrived home, and my spirits lifted. I visited the temple shrine to leave offerings and prayers for his safe journey.

Winter solstice came and went, and the sun's strength was beginning to return. Little buds of new leaves dotted the trees' branches with green. Spring was on its way, which meant it was almost time to welcome the new year.

His caravan arrived early one morning as we were making preparations for the Lunar Festival in a week.

Hakuei and I had been tasked with putting together the flower arrangements throughout the palace and temple courtyards, where thousands of citizens would be gathering for the festivities.

I heard the guards calling out to announce the arrival of the Empress's carriage. My heart pounded. I dropped the bouquet I had been carrying on the ground and ran.

First I saw the Empress climbing out of the carriage, and then she turned and was concealed by the open door. When the door closed, a drowsy looking Judar was clinging to her skirt and rubbing his eyes.

I ran right up and threw my arms around his neck.

"Welcome home, Judar-nii!"

"Urgh leggo Kougyoku, I'm too tired."

I got treated to a little lecture from the Empress about how he'd had a long journey and needed rest before he could play as they carried him off in a palanquin. I was too happy to argue, so I went back to work.

In the afternoon I sat in the garden in my favorite spot, eating steamed pork bao and feeling nostalgic about the sense of anticipation that gripped me to my core.

I heard rustling in the tree branches, and then a pale hand reached down and snatched one of my dumplings.

"You never wrote me back, Momoko-hime. You didn't even miss me all that much, did you?"

Judar hung upside down on a limb by his legs, and with a somersault he hopped down and sat beside me. He was garbed in a red and black _tangzhuang_ suit instead of the ceremonial hanfu he normally wore.

"That's not true. I missed you a lot. I really wanted to write you, but the creepy guy in the mask was going to take my letter. You told me to be careful around those old men in the veils, so I listened."

He huffed and pouted melodramatically. "You liar. You're just saying that because you forgot all about me."

"You've got some nerve saying that when you're the one who didn't even say goodbye! Jerk!"

He laughed and pinched my cheek. "Chill, Momoko. I'm just messing with you for old times' sake. I know you're too much of a sappy crybaby to forget about me. I bet you sat right here and waited every day like you always did."

"Actually, I've been doing a lot of studying and training. I haven't been here in the garden much at all."

"Training, eh? What kind of training would a brat like you be doing? How to whine and cry louder so you get more attention? How to fold napkins and pour tea?"

"No I-"

"Ooh I know! You've been training your lap dog manservant to jump through hoops and beg for treats! Hahahaha!"

"No, you dummy! I learned swordplay!"

"Yeah right, you whine too much to learn stuff like that."

"I knew you'd say something like that. That's why I brought this to show you."

I got up and unwrapped my _jian_ from its protective cloth, drawing it from the sheath and performing the thirty-two _yang taiji_ stances that were ingrained into my muscle memory. This time I was the one grandstanding, and my heart fluttered when I reminisced on the night he showed me magic for the first time.

When I'd finished, he was chowing down the last pork bao with a blank look on his face.

I felt a vein pop on my forehead.

"Aren't you going to say something? I worked really hard to learn that!"

"Cool, I guess." He said with a mouthful. "Swords are boring to me. Magic is way more fun."

My eye twitched. "Y-you…you dare insult my swordplay when I'm standing here with a sharp and combat ready sword?!"

"Pffft. You can't touch me, but go ahead and try if you want."

"Oh yeah?! How would you like a haircut?!"

I was so worked up it was like my body moved on it's own. I swung in a wide downward arc towards his braid.

"Borg!"

A bubble of bright light flashed around him and my sword ricocheted like it had struck solid stone. My balance was thrown off and I stumbled. He flicked his wand and blew a gust of air, and I tumbled end over end into the grass. He cackled like a hyena.

I lay there recovering from dizziness and he stood over me with an outstretched hand. "You okay there, Momoko? I forget how strong my spells are sometimes."

I wanted to be mad at him for harassing me so much, but I realized this was what I missed about being with him. No one else would stir up such strong reactions in me. And no matter how brazen he seemed initially, he'd always turn around and be so decidedly tender.

I reached for his hand. Instead of letting him help me up, I pulled him down into a tight hug.

"You haven't changed one bit, Judar-nii. And I'm really glad."

He blushed so hard that his ears turned red. He scrambled out of my grasp. "Hey come on, don't get weird on me. What are you talking about? Why would you think I'd change?"

"That day you left...you looked like something terrible had happened. You seemed so far away. I called for you, but you didn't seem to hear me."

"Oh. You mean that. Well, don't worry. I'm still me."

"What happened to you? Did those people hurt you?"

He looked uneasy. "Uh...not really? Look, I don't really want to talk about any of that. It's not something you need to worry about. I'll be just fine. I'm too valuable to those people for them to do any real harm to me."

He tousled my hair. "I'm glad you've at least found a way to protect yourself. Your swordplay is really awesome. Good job, Momoko-hime."

My cheeks heated up. "Th-thanks, Judar-nii."

He stretched out on his back beside me and we stared up at the clouds drifting by.

"We've both changed a bit though, haven't we?" He said. "You cut your hair shorter."

"Yeah. Keeps it from getting in my way when I'm training. You've gotten taller. And your voice is a bit deeper."

"Makes me sound more manly doesn't it?"

I giggled.

"That's a pretty hairpin."

"Thanks, it was a birthday gift. What's with that outfit? I've never seen you without your hanfu."

"I can't wear that frilly stuff all the time, it's hard to move in them! This is way more comfortable. Did anything interesting happen around here while I was gone?"

"Hmm...oh! Hakuryuu's burns healed. I think he's blind in one eye now. Sometimes him and Hakuei train with me."

"That's cool. I saw him this morning and said hello. He just looked at me weird. I don't think he likes me all that much."

"He's really nice, but all the adults have been ostracizing him, so he's really defensive. He'll come out of his shell, it just takes awhile."

"I don't know about that. I think he just doesn't like me."

"Hey, you two!"

Hakuei called to us, coming into the garden from the courtyard.

"Hey there, Hakuei!" I responded.

She crossed the bridge and approached us.

"Good to see you again, Judar. Welcome home. Sorry to interrupt, but mother wanted me to tell you that you're needed for festival preparations. And Kougyoku, I still need help with the flower arrangements."

Judar groaned. "Yeah yeah, I'll be right there."

"We're decorating the throne room next, Kougyoku. Come find me when you're ready."

"Okay!"

Hakuei scurried off.

Judar got to his feet and stretched out. "Man I hate carriage rides. I'm so stiff. C'mon let's walk."

We strolled through the garden, biding our time with going back to the palace, watching the servants as they hurried about with decorating and cleaning.

"What's this festival everyone's so worked up over anyhow?"

"You don't remember Lunar Festival? It's only the best time of the whole year! It's when we celebrate the first moonrise of the new year and wake up the sleeping sun for the next harvest season. We use firecrackers to scare away the bad spirits that came in with the cold, and there's a big parade with lion dances and dragon dances, and we light pretty lanterns and send them up into the sky to say hello to our ancestors in the heavens. And all of us royals get together in the palace and have a big feast that lasts almost a whole day, and there's even more yummy food in the city to eat while we stay up till sunrise!"

"The only thing you said during that whole ramble that I cared about was the word 'feast'. Apparently they're having me do a bunch of rituals for this festival because they've appointed me as the new high priest. The witch talked about it a lot on the way home. It seems like all anyone wants me to do anymore is work. Your big brothers work all the time, and look at how grumpy they are."

We arrived back in the palace throne room, and Judar was immediately swallowed up by a throng of court magicians ushering him off to go to work.

"Guess I'll see you around!" He called.

I went to go join Hakuei and Hakuryuu with putting together flower arrangements for the palace.

…

The week leading up to the festival flew by with all the hustle and bustle throughout the palace, and New Year's Eve finally arrived. We all gathered in the great hall for opening ceremonies and the banquet. Judar was clothed in a beautiful bright red and gold hanfu as he, the Emperor and Empress lit incense and laid wreaths of flowers on a shrine dedicated to the fallen first emperor and his sons.

Then there came the crashing of gongs and cymbals as the servants laid out the long dining tables for us and covered them with every kind of food imaginable. Judar gracefully cast a spell and created a huge ice sculpture of a coiled flying dragon for the centerpiece of the dining table, and with the final tolls of the gongs we all gathered around and dug in to the feast.

As we dined, elegant dancers clad in flowing red gowns, gold jewelry, and twinkling bells twirled about the room. The court musicians played a soothing, jolly tune with the _erhu_ and _guzheng_. The atmosphere was lively and warm, a far cry from the usual air of solemn emptiness that I was so accustomed to in these halls. I always loved this day because it was the one time it felt like we were truly a family, and I brimmed with a sense of belonging.

To my chagrin, I didn't get to sit at the table near my friend. Judar was near the head of the table with my father, Gyokuen, and my elder brothers. Even Kouha got to sit closer to him than I did. They all seemed to be conversing intently. He was animated as he spoke, and I wondered if he was regaling them with tales of his travels. I pouted, as I was stuck near the far end of the table with all my sisters, listening to them chatter frivolously about what their future husbands and their weddings were going to be like.

My saving grace was that Hakuei and Hakuryuu were seated across from me. Hakuei asked what was troubling me, taking notice of how agitatedly I gorged on my food.

"All my brothers get to talk to Judar-nii about his travels. I really wanted to sit with him so I could hear his stories. And Ka Kobun promised me that we could share some peach cobbler."

Hakuei chuckled. "You're so sweet, Kougyoku. I'm glad you and Judar get along so well."

She nudged her brother, who had been glumly pushing the food around on his plate.

"See, he can't be all that bad if Kougyoku is friends with him. Why don't you give the priest a chance, Hakuryuu? He's always being very outgoing towards you."

Hakuryuu looked like he might snap his chopsticks. "I'd prefer it if we didn't rehash this discussion right now, sister."

The youngest prince's choleric mood was a stain on our spirited surroundings, and I found myself vying to remedy it.

"What's the matter, Hakuryuu? You've hardly touched your food."

His sharp gaze was pulled to the shrine. "That tacky display...it doesn't honor their memory at all. It's disgraceful."

I followed his stare and examined the huge painted canvases of Emperor Hakutoku, Hakuyuu, and Hakuren that hung from the ceiling above the golden altar near the thrones. I had thought they were beautifully rendered artistic depictions that captured the regalness of the former Emperor and princes, but I could understand why Hakuryuu's feelings were different.

"Hey now," I said, "let's not be so gloomy. Maybe it's tacky, but that shrine is supposed to invite their spirits here to celebrate with us. How are they supposed to have any fun if you're all grumpy, Hakuryuu?"

"She's right," Hakuei said, "Father and our brothers wouldn't want you to spend the rest of your life sulking, little brother. Come now, why don't we honor their memories in a better way? Let's talk about some happy memories. Like when Father held the first Lunar Festival after the end of the war. Remember how we all got to ride on the backs of elephants?"

"Oh, remember when you and me were really little, and Hakuyuu and Hakuren would put us on their shoulders and have pretend horse races?" I chimed in.

Hakuryuu smiled a little. "My brothers would always let me win at arm wrestling matches. And I'd watch them train with their spears. I told them that 'one day, I'm going to be just like the two of you, but I can't become better than the both of you, so I will become like you but not as great.' They thought it was funny."

He chuckled a bit, but then his face screwed up into a sob and he buried it into Hakuei's sleeve. She stroked his hair as his shoulders shook, and suddenly I felt a bit ashamed. My eyes watered.

"I'm sorry, Hakuryuu. C'mon, don't cry. I'll start crying too, and then all this delicious food will taste too salty!"

I picked up my chopsticks and stole a spring roll off his plate.

"H-hey! What do you think you're doing?"

"I'm helping you eat. Because remember what happens if you don't clean your plate on New Year's Eve?"

He rubbed his eyes and sniffled, looking puzzled.

I put my chopsticks in my mouth to look like big fangs and scowled. "The great monster _Nian_ will smell your food and come gobble you up!"

He snorted and quirked an eyebrow. "You don't actually still believe in that kiddie stuff, do you?"

I winked and munched on his spring roll. "Nope. But it got you to smile, didn't it?"

He reached over and swiped my red-bean bun.

"Hey!"

"There, now we're even. Wouldn't want _Nian_ coming after you either. You're probably a lot tastier than me."

We laughed. The rest of dinner went by in a much lighter mood. Soon everything was being cleared away to make way for dessert.

"Here's the peach cobbler you asked for, Princess."

"Aren't you forgetting something, Ka Kobun?"

"...would you like more cinnamon?"

"Ugh-give me that!"

"Wait, this is too hot!"

I grabbed some potholders from another dish and snatched the skillet out of his hands, scurrying off to the other end of the table. I elbowed my way between Kouha and Judar.

"Hey Judar-nii, you have to try this! It's got peaches in it!"

"...whoa, that's really good."

"Can I have some too?

"No way, Kouha! This is ours!"

"Don't be a brat, Kougyoku. Here try some, Kouha."

"I would like some too."

"Koumei-nii! Why do I have to have such terrible brothers! You're gonna eat all our peach cobbler, and I haven't even had any!"

"Yum."

"Ack! Kouen-nii!"

Laughter filled the great hall.

…

As the sun went down, we made our way into the city as part of a huge procession to the temple. We were all carried in palanquins, except for Kouen, Koumei, and Hakuei, who rode on horses along with the soldiers, carrying bright red banners on their ceremonial weapons. It was a demonstration of military pride to accompany our forthcoming campaign to conquer new dungeons and begin subjugating the foreign lands to the west.

The parade was slow, and it was the duty of me and my sisters to look pretty and wave to the commoners in the streets. Many times we had to stop for the lion dancers to perform. I was bored with all these traditions, wishing for the moon to appear sooner so I could be set free from my role as a spectacle for the public.

When we reached the Temple of Heaven there was more dancing and military demonstrations while we waited for the moon to rise to the tip of the tower. That was when Judar appeared with the Emperor and Empress to bow and lead us in prayer. I became antsy and barely remembered to keep my eyes lowered during the chants, because next came my favorite part.

There was a great chain of firecrackers dressed to look like a dragon encircling the temple's courtyard, and once prayers were finished, Judar came down the temple's steps looking very pleased with himself. He stood in the center and breathed deeply, raising his red crystal wand high.

"Har Har Infigar!"

A bright flame erupted at the tip of his wand, and he twirled it about and danced with it to please the crowd. When the cheering reached a climax, he hurled the flame at the dragon's tail, igniting a chain reaction of popping and sparking firecrackers that spiraled with the dragon's coiled body until it reached the head, where rockets ignited and shot out of the dragon's mouth, exploding in gold flowers high in the air. The crowds went wild, and great ringing bells tolled in the midnight hour.

" _Xinnian kuaile!"_ We cheered _._

With the ceremony complete, everyone was free to mingle and enjoy the festivities. Judar was ushered away with the imperial priesthood.

I started off the night by playing with sparklers and midway games with Hakuryuu and Hakuei, but then Hakuei wanted to go watch a play that I'd already had memorized and wasn't interested in. My elder brothers were sitting with the adults and drinking alcohol, and Kouha was busy doing a mock duel with the soldiers, so I was left all alone. Save for Ka Kobun of course, who stuck to me like he was melted cloud candy.

"Princess, slow down or you'll get trampled by all these commoners!"

"Come on, Kobun, keep up! I've gotta find Judar-nii!"

It seemed like I'd been up and down the main street of Rakushou twice in an effort to locate my friend. I was beginning to get dejected. I turned around and was about to start walking back to the palace to retire early.

"RRRRAAAAAWWR!"

"AAAIIIEEEEE!"

I was nose to nose with a giant paper lion head, and a familiar voice inside was laughing hysterically as he puppeteered the eyes and ears.

"Kekekekekekeke! Got you, Momoko!"

"Why you-you butthead!"

"Princess? Where did you go?"

"Ugh, why can't he leave me be for tonight? I don't need a babysitter or a bodyguard, I can take care of myself."

"Get under here and be the back legs so we can lose him. I got this thing so we could hide from all the adults."

"Oh! Nice going, Judar-nii!"

I shuffled under the cloth of the lion dance costume and clutched his waist so he could lead us around. We scampered about the streets, playing pranks on unsuspecting children and adults alike. After awhile when we ran out of breath and our stomachs were sore from laughing, we discarded the costume and made sure we'd lost our chaperones. With no Ka Kobun or court magicians in sight, we strolled about the festival at a leisurely pace, nibbling on skewers of candied haw. Judar had changed out of his hanfu into a white and gold embroidered _changshan_ , which coincidentally went with my white _qipao_.

"I sure missed all the food here in Kou. Parthevians seem to eat nothing but rice and soups. They use a lot of interesting spices, though."

"Yeah, tell me all about your travels! Did you really get to meet Sinbad?"

"Yup. Don't believe anything you read in his stupid books. He acts all cool, but he's the biggest idiot ever. He thinks he can just get whatever he wants because he can 'see the flow of destiny' or something. But he said he didn't need my help trying to ignite a revolution against the Parthevian ruler's corrupt regime. I was like: uhh, hello? You might be a singularity, but I'm a Magi? I can _make_ destiny. Dumbass."

"What's a singularity?"

"I dunno. That's what Falan and Gyokuen called him. I guess it means he's a special sort of human. Not a magician, but special in a different way? He's got the largest amount of magoi I've ever seen in a normal person, and he has a lot of natural leadership ability, so a lot of people want to follow him. He's already formed an alliance between nations that previously had really isolationist policies."

"Sounds to me like he's still pretty incredible. Is he handsome?"

"Ugh, how should I know? Look, can we not talk about Lord Moron anymore? There was a lot of bad business involving him and it still leaves a nasty taste in my mouth when I think about it. I'll tell you about it when you're older."

"Oh...okay."

We made our way to a grassy hillside and lounged about watching the ongoing fireworks displays.

"Hey Momoko...why is it we only get to hang out and be normal kids right before a bunch of serious stuff is about to happen?"

"What do you mean, Judar-nii?"

"When the festival is over, we'll be going to war again. You understand that, right? I have to help your siblings get more metal vessels so our armies can conquer the surrounding territories and expand Kou's sphere of influence. They tell us it's all supposed to be in the name of peace so we can rid war from the world, but what part of invading other countries and forcing them to bend knee is peaceful?"

"Well...Kouen-nii is gonna be in charge. It's not like he's some violent megalomaniac. He'll try and find diplomatic solutions first. Besides…"

I took his hands.

"I'm going to help! I already decided when I started my sword training. You won't be all alone, Judar-nii. I promised I'd help you, remember? You can get me a metal vessel too, and then I'll be able to fight by your side!"

The light seemed to leave his eyes. He pulled his hands away, clenching his fists.

"I don't know about that. It's up to the witch whether or not I can give you a metal vessel. It's not likely something the rest of your family would want for you. And beyond that...I couldn't imagine you being entangled in war, Momoko. It's not glorious the way everyone here in the capital makes it out to be. It's terrible. I've seen it...I had to go to war in Parthevia. I watched a lot of people die. I had to use my magic to hurt people."

He curled into himself and hugged his knees. The flashes of light from the fireworks cast deep shadows onto his face.

"You shouldn't have to endure something like that. Just look at the way your older brothers are...they've been through horrible things. Kouen is like an empty shell most of the time, going through the motions of life like his body is moving on its own. He barely speaks or shows an emotion. Koumei almost never goes to sleep because he's plagued by nightmares, and he shuts himself off from most human contact. You can't tell me you want that for yourself, Momoko. No one wants that."

He smiled eerily at me. His eyes had that emptiness that made him seem like a doll, and yet they were icy and seemed to pierce right through me. A shiver trickled down my spine.

"And then there's me...I hated that battle I fought. It was miserable. But when I think about it...deep down it seems like part of me liked it. I felt powerful...like I was invincible. All those people seemed like little toys to play with. I crushed them so easily and they cowered before me. I could've gotten them to do anything I wanted because they were so afraid of me. It's an incredible rush having that level of dominance."

I was at a loss for words. This was a side of him I'd never seen before. I instantly suspected that this was the result of whatever it was those veiled people did to him.

Then he shifted his expression to a bright grin. "Nevermind all that, though. I've said too much...I really shouldn't talk about things like that until you're more grown up. But you get the point, right?"

I rested my chin on my hand, looking out across the bay and watching the silver beams of moonlight glimmer in the water. A black and white crane flew by and skimmed the water, catching a fish in its talons.

"I understand all that. I spent a lot of time studying history while you were away. I read all about the terrible battles with Go and Gai. And it's true that I'm afraid of what could become of me were I to end up on a battlefield...even if I were to live through such a thing."

I turned on my knees to face him, clenching my fists into my skirt.

"But I still want to do it anyway! Because why should you and my brothers have to do it all by yourselves?! You're all very strong, but you're not perfect and you're not invincible! There will be times when even you need help! So if Hakuei can do it, then why can't I? Kouha and Hakuryuu too...we all want to do our part!"

I grasped his shoulders. "Please, Judar-nii! Lend me your strength! And when you can't be strong, then I'll lend you mine! I promise!"

Awestruck, he blinked at me and then took my hands from his shoulders and held them.

"Heheh. You're a good girl, Momoko."

He tousled my hair. I felt the redness spread across my cheeks.

"You're gonna make some guy a lucky husband one day, you know that?"

"Ugh!" I wrenched my hands away, "don't say something weird like that! It just reminds me of my foolish sisters. I'm a warrior, not some trophy wife. And that's another reason you have to give me a metal vessel, too! 'Cause if you don't, they're just gonna marry me off to some strange man elsewhere, and then we'll never see each other again! Hmm...unless…"

I leaned in close to him with a devious sparkle in my eye.

"Wh-what?"

"Heehee...you could always tell Kouen-nii...that you promise to marry me."

"Ewww! No way in hell!"

"Aww, what's wrong, Judar-nii? Don't you think I'm pretty? Wouldn't you wanna be the lucky guy who gets to be my husband? Heheheheh!"

"Gross! Bleeegh!"

I cackled, triumphant that I'd finally found a way to tease him back.

"Come here and gimme a kiss! Mwah mwah mwah!"

"Nooooo! Get away from me!"

He scrambled to his feet and ran back into the street. I chased after him.

"Marry me, Judar!"

"Shut up, you old hag!"

"Hey! That was uncalled for!"

"Uncalled for?! You're the one trying to molest me!"

Judar ran headlong into Ka Kobun's gut.

"Ooof!" He sputtered. "Aha! I finally found you two little rascals. Come along now, the sun will be rising soon and it's time to light the lanterns."

It was the second-best part of the festival, where we all gathered on the beach and lit floating lanterns painted with prayers to our ancestors and wishes for the year to come. It was a beautiful ceremony that always made me feel so delightful, but at the same time it made me sad because it meant the happiest day of the year was over.

"What are you gonna wish for, Judar-nii?"

I looked over to see him painting a crude picture of a tree covered in huge peaches on his lantern.

"Of course."

"Like you could do better."

"I'm wishing for a metal vessel."

"That won't work. You have to wish to be strong enough to capture a dungeon."

"Oh, good idea."

As the soft blue light of dawn crested the horizon, the nebula of lanterns drifted into the sky. It was as though we were bidding farewell to the last light of our childlike innocence that night, for the thunderheads of turmoil loomed beyond the sea.


	4. Maelstrom

**Chapter 4**

 **Maelstrom**

It was spring again. The sweet aroma of the blooming flowers and the lovely colors of their dancing petals seemed ironic to me, because we were all preparing to stain the earth with blood.

Oddly enough, the calamity that was our latest excursion into war brought us all closer together. We were all galvanized towards the common purpose we had been groomed for. I may not have liked what that purpose was, but that didn't mean I couldn't take pride in the fact that I was earning my place among the rest of my esteemed family.

It also made it so that Judar was close to me more often, and I definitely didn't mind that at all. He would still disappear for weeks, sometimes months on end to check on the affairs of his dungeons, but he came home just as frequently to keep in contact with my brothers.

Thanks to Judar's efforts, Kouen captured a third dungeon. Our country swelled with pride. He was now the second most prolific metal vessel user in the world.

The first of course, was that man...Sinbad.

Oh how Judar _hated_ Sinbad.

Whenever we managed to get some spare time together, Judar would always need to vent to me about his latest encounter with the great Sinbad.

We would meet in the peach tree grove, just like we always did. He snapped off branches and stripped them of their petals in his frustration, just like he always would.

"That insufferable asshole keeps stealing our metal vessels! He already stole Zepar and had three of them! What the hell does he need more than three for? Now he has Crocell and Furfur too...I need to have a security detail around the rest of my dungeons or something before he steals even more of them. I doubt the Emperor would approve of the manpower needed for that though...dammit! I swear, I'm gonna kill him!"

"Judar-nii, stop doing that to the tree. You're hurting it."

"Like I care! Sinbad's lucky I'm not doing this to his stupid neck right now!"

I was coming to know this chilling, bloodthirsty side of him more and more.

"Hey Momoko-hime...want to hear a cool story?"

"I'd love to!"

"Do you know how peach and cherry blossoms got their color? They all used to be white, you know."

"Wow, really? How? Tell me!"

He gave me that eerie smile. The one that sent shivers down my spine.

"It's because...the trees drank people's blood."

"What? No way...you're lying."

"It's true...in ancient times when humans discovered the trees, the flowers were beautiful and pure white. They thought it was a gift from the gods. So when someone died, they would bury the body under the tree as an offering. Sometimes they would even make a human sacrifice when they planted new saplings of the tree, just to appease the gods."

He paused and hungrily tore a bite off the peach he was eating.

"And then...slowly over the years as people did this, the flowers' petals began to change from white to pink. The more people's bodies they fed to the trees, the more vibrant the color of the petals got. I guess they favored the peach tree, because the flowers are more pink than the cherry tree. They also make larger fruits...do you know why that is, Momoko?"

I gulped on my bite of peach. "No...wh-why?"

"Heheh...the trees made fruit because when they fed on the dead body, they also ate the person's soul. So whenever you're eating a cherry or a peach, you're probably eating someone's soul!"

I dropped my fruit and screamed.

"Nooooo!"

I spit the fruit juices out of my mouth. I started to cry.

"I don't want to be eating people! I'm never eating a peach again!"

Judar grinned and bit off huge chunks of his fruit. "Mmm this human soul is delicious."

"H-hey! Stop it! That's awful, Judar-nii! How could you be so cruel!"

"Heheheheh! Oh, quit being a baby. It's just a joke. None of that was true. It's some dumb story that Al Thamen told me when I was little."

"I knew you were lying, you jerk! Wait...who's Al Thamen?"

"The people in the veils."

"Oh."

I finally learned their name. They were much more frightening when they didn't have a name. It was like I dicovered a magic spell I could use to break a curse.

But I learned it too late. The curse they had on him was too strong.

As the years marched on, all he seemed to want to speak of was death and bloodshed. He took pride and joy in it. He savored it like the taste of those sweet fruits.

Judar would clash with Sinbad many more times in an effort to safeguard his dungeons. For the most part he would succeed, but there came another time when he didn't, and Sinbad managed to capture the dungeon Vepar. He came home that day in a fit of rage, hurling destructive spells around like he was a walking hurricane. He nearly capsized the entire naval fleet before Empress Gyokuen had intervened.

Afterwards, I would see him less and less. He was so consumed with his desire to destroy his enemy that he abandoned the notion of having a friend. Instead of meeting me in the garden, he started walking through the air and sitting on the rooftops, where no one could reach him. I'd always try to console him, but his gaze had become icy daggers and his tongue shot bolts of lightning.

"Judar-nii, please come down! Please just talk to me! I can help! I said I'd help you, remember?"

"Piss off, old hag!"

Old hag. I began to hear that name much more often than "peach blossom princess". It was as if, to him, I'd wrinkled and dried up because I'd been left to rot. I wasn't some intriguing novelty to him anymore. He'd become bored with me. So he threw up his walls of ice and thunder and whirlwinds, and didn't let me come close anymore.

The only person he seemed to be interested in was the one who wouldn't give him the time of day. Hakuryuu. He tried so hard to get Hakuryuu's attention all the time. He told him he could learn some life magic to fix his blind eye and heal his burns. Hakuryuu snubbed him every step of the way.

I understood exactly what it was. To Judar, Hakuryuu was like a swift, great horned ibex always escaping his black leopard claws. I was just the picked clean carcass of a doe; a feeble pile of bones for him to toy with when he had nothing better to do.

It tore my heart to shreds. I spent many a night nearly drowning in my tears.

Why was I always the one everyone abandoned and forgot? Was that my fate? Was I destined to be picked up and then tossed aside by everyone I cared about?

My only godsend through all this was Hakuei and Hakuryuu. We would still train together every now and then. I'd join them in their quarters for leisurely tea parties and games of cards and chess. We'd discuss our feelings about the expansion campaign. Hakuryuu never had much of anything to say, but Hakuei spoke highly of Kouen's ideals, and how she was eager to support him in creating a peaceful world. I admired how eloquent and noble she was, and I hoped I could be the same when it was time for me to play my part.

But soon, Hakuei became increasingly unavailable as well. She was next in line to become a general and join the northern subjugation front.

*

Despite everything, I still made time to look after the grove of peach trees. I made sure the gardeners were watering them and preening them properly. I thought maybe it would take Judar's mind off of all the destruction and chaos he lusted after.

I could hardly contain my excitement when they finally bore fruit one midsummer. I ran out of the garden with a bushel of tiny peaches cradled in my skirt, scrambling about to find him.

He was in the war room, surrounded by priests and military leaders, debating with Kouen and Koumei while Hakuei stood by him looking bashful and reserved. They all locked their stern gazes on me when I came skidding into the room.

"...What do you want, Kougyoku? We're in the middle of something." Kouen growled.

"Er...I just wanted to show Judar-nii--"

"Perfect timing, old hag. I was getting seriously bored with all this anyways. Come on, Hakuei."

He grasped Hakuei by the wrist and dragged her towards the door.

"Judar! How dare you disrespect his highness! Come back here, we aren't finished with negotiations!" Koumei barked.

"Screw that! I've had enough of dealing with you geezers. I can take her and her lapdog Seishun, and we'll be just fine. Anything else you come up with is just a waste of time and resources."

"Wait, lord Magi! We should listen to lord Kouen--ouch!"

"I said let's go, Hakuei!"

"HEY!"

All eyes were on me again.

"...Judar-nii, that's no way to treat a lady. Let go of her."

He bore his icy gaze into me, but he complied and released Hakuei from his grasp. She massaged her wrist.

I tiptoed up to him and smiled despite the barbs of anxiety worming their way into my gut.

"Look, Judar-nii! The trees have fruit on them now!"

"Tch. Those weak little things are too bitter to eat."

He elbowed me aside. I stumbled, and the peaches tumbled out of my skirt and rolled across the floor.

"Stop bothering me, old hag. I've got too much work to do."

I dropped to my knees, choking back a sob.

"Why does Hakuei get to be with you? Where are you going?"

"Where else, idiot? We're conquering a dungeon. Now let's go already, Hakuei! I can't stand another minute of this stupidity."

He disappeared out the door. Hakuei gave me a pitiful look before she shuffled after him.

The elders began verbally assaulting my brothers like a flock of vultures for Judar's insolence. I sat there crumpled in a heap on the war room floor, with sorrow gripped around my throat and tears flowing like hot slag from my burning eyes.

Ka Kobun found me and started berating me for interrupting the war council and making a mess. I said nothing and refused to move, which only made him yap at me even louder. All the voices seemed to crescendo into dissonance, so I pretended I had fallen deaf and shut them out.

And then a hushed, weary sounding voice cut through it all.

"It's quite alright, Ka Kobun. She didn't mean any harm. Why don't you leave this to me?"

"L-l-lord Koumei? Er...of course your highness!"

I rubbed my eyes and looked up to see Koumei crouched beside me, gathering up the tiny fruit from the floor.

"Hmm. He's right, these are way too small and unripe. You're going to have to be a bit more patient if you want these to be edible, Kougyoku."

I sobbed. "I'm...I'm sorry big brother!"

"Ka Kobun, please take care to clean this up, would you?"

"Y-yessir!"

"Come along now, Kougyoku. I think it's time we had a little chat."

I picked myself up and followed Koumei through the palace to his office in the library.

*

He retrieved cushions and sat me down on the tiger skin rug in front of the fireplace, and had his servants bring us a fresh pot of tea and a plate of cakes. Almost instantly, my stormy emotions were soothed. This was the very spot that Koumei used to read me stories as a little girl.

He sat down next to me and opened up a delicate and ancient looking scroll written in strange pictographs and glyphs.

"What do you know about Magi and the metal vessels, little sister?"

"Just what Judar told me, and what I read about in my favorite books."

"And you're aware that Judar himself is a Magi?"

"Yes."

"Do you understand what that means?"

"He told me that he's one of the most powerful magicians in the world."

"Has anyone really taken the time to explain all of this to you? Do you understand the true purpose of why magicians and the Magi exist, and why our country needs Judar and the metal vessels he can give us?"

"...Not really, no."

"I thought so. Then listen carefully, Kougyoku."

"I know what magicians are though...they get to play with those pretty birds made of light. Judar showed me once."

Koumei pointed to a painting on the scroll that looked like a swirling galaxy of color composed of the little birds.

"They're called the rukh. They glow with light because they are the source of all the energy that makes up our world. They bestow the essence of life, magoi, to every plant, animal, and person. Magicians are people born innately with a larger amount of magoi and an affinity to the rukh. The rukh will listen to their commands, and they can use magoi to rearrange the makeup of reality to their will. This is what we call magic and spells."

He pointed to another picture of a golden oil lamp with an eight pointed star on it. The lamp was being held by a giant and fearsome looking blue man with horns.

"The metal vessels are powerful tools that allow those of us with a strong enough will who aren't magicians to, essentially, become magicians. We borrow the power of a great spirit, a djinn contained within the metal vessel, so that we can perform incredible feats of magic power. For instance, the metal vessel I have, Dantalion, allows me to move things through gateways in space and transport them instantly across great distances."

"Wow, really? Can you show me? I've never seen anyone use a metal vessel. I've only read stories about it. Please?"

Koumei grumbled. "This isn't the time or the place for that. And I haven't exactly mastered how to use it yet, so if I were to make a mistake, it could be disastrous. Anyways, you need to pay attention, so try not to interrupt. Kouen and I have been meaning to ensure that you and Kouha are educated in these matters, since you've both made it clear you want to join the military when you're ready."

He directed my attention to another picture: three people wearing pointed hats and holding staves were sitting on thrones in the sky. Below them was the world with towers all around it, and people wearing crowns were standing on top of the towers.

"Kouen has been learning the ancient language of these texts. They're copies of sacred scriptures that belong to the Torran people. From what we've managed to translate, we discovered that the origin of the metal vessels, and the Magi, is a world that came before this one. A world that was ruled by just one king. The Torran tribe and the people of Sasan Kingdom believe that the king of this previous world was akin to a god, and that the Magi are his emissaries. There are always three of them, and they're responsible for maintaining the balance of the world that the king created: the world we all live in now. The Magi, together with the djinn, judge the worthiness of individuals who seek power through the trials of the dungeons. If they prove themselves worthy of the king's power, they may use it as they see fit to shape and reshape the foundations of civilization."

"So that's why Judar was always talking about choosing a king when we were little. It makes sense why he's so worried about the dungeons all the time too."

"Precisely. The dungeons have always been scattered throughout the world, appearing and disappearing in random places. The Magi are basically the keys that unlock the dungeons. The king designed this system that governs the nature of our world very logically, with checks and balances in order to prevent one person from holding all the power. The legends say that the previous world fell to ruin because one person became all powerful, so naturally this king redesigned the new world so the same thing could not be repeated. The Magi are bestowed with the power to be the ultimate magicians so that they can end and restart the cycle as needed."

Koumei carefully re-sealed the scroll and returned it to its display case under lock and key.

"Now that you understand all of this...how do you feel about trying to have a close friendship with Judar?"

It was a lot of information to take in. I gave it some thought before I answered.

"It doesn't change anything for me. He may be this powerful Magi...but to me he's just like you, or Kouen, or Kouha, Hakuei and Hakuryuu. He's still a person with thoughts and feelings of his own. And he's been the only actual friend I've ever had."

"I see."

Koumei heaved a sigh and sat back down beside me, nibbling on a tea cake.

"I understand the two of you have been having some difficulty as of late. Tell me Kougyoku… do you believe Judar feels the exact same way you do about being friends?"

My stomach suddenly felt like it was doing backflips.

"Well I...I think so. He always used to like when we would play together. I know it's hard now that we're older, but lately he's just...so cold. He was always sort of rude, but now he's gotten to be so aggressive and hurtful. I don't understand it."

I curled my knees into my chest, staring into the crackling embers in the fireplace.

"Come to think of it...he's never actually told me that we're friends. I was always the one saying that. I told him that he's part of the family. I thought it would make him happy. But all this time, it's always just been me chasing after him and vying for his attention. I just wanted to show him that he wasn't alone...because I understand what being lonely is like."

Before I knew it, I had tears rolling down my face again.

Koumei handed me a handkerchief and pulled me close, letting me rest my head on his shoulder. He stroked my hair and patted my back while I sniffled into the handkerchief.

"There's something you must understand, my kind and sweet little sister. Judar will never be able to escape the feeling of loneliness."

"Wh-what? How so?"

"Being part of the ruling class, I'm sure you're all too familiar with the depth of isolation we experience. None of us really have the luxury of maintaining friendships. So imagine that, compounded with possessing a godlike level of magical power, and then being told from the day you were born that you must use it to ensure your country will be victorious in war, conquering every nation on earth to bring the world under one rulership. That is what Judar's life has been since he came to us as an infant."

He paused to drink the rest of his tea and pour himself another cup. I followed suit and took a sip of my tea.

"So you see...I don't think Judar can ever fully grasp the concept of having a friend, when he was hand raised to be the ultimate weapon of war. I don't think he believes himself to have an equal in this entire world. Therefore, he will always be alone. It's logical that he's distant and aggressive, and that he enjoys tormenting others. It's what he's been conditioned to be from the beginning."

Koumei heaved another sigh, pinching between his eyes to quell a developing headache.

"And now that the little war machine has grown and is on the cusp of manhood, he's lashing out at just about everyone and everything around him, trying to exercise some free will that he doesn't actually have. He understands perfectly well that his entire life has been dictated, so he's developed one hell of an attitude problem. I swear, if I could do it all over, I'd choose not to have to endure the rebellious teenage phase of a Magi."

Koumei's dry humor made me snort on my drink of tea a little.

His eye twitched. "Ugh...it's nothing to laugh about," he griped, "you have no idea how much havoc he's caused for me and Kouen. That botched war council you saw was just a taste of it."

"I'm sorry, I can't help it!" I giggled. "I'm just imagining the way I used to catch you and Kouen wrestling each other, and now you have to get along because Judar is being a pain in the ass! It's so funny!"

His drooping frown shifted into a smirk. "Well, in any case, I'm glad to have cheered you up. It pains me to see you sad when Kouen and I work so hard to make sure you and the others are alright. Now that you have a better understanding of the person you want to call a friend, perhaps you can create new and stronger bonds. Just be patient. Much like those peach trees you look after, it takes a lot of time and effort."

I flung my arms around my brother's chest and squeezed tight. "Thank you so much, Koumei-nii."

*

Hakuei successfully captured the dungeon Paimon.

Shortly afterwards, we received the news that Sinbad had captured Focalor, his seventh djinn.

Judar was furious. He ran off to go find Sinbad again, most likely to fight him. He was gone for weeks. I was beginning to worry, and so were my brothers. There were rumors flying around that Judar had gotten himself killed. He may have been one of the world's strongest magicians, but an individual like Sinbad could have proved to be too much for him to handle.

I spent several nights tossing and turning, wracked with a deep pit of anxiety in my stomach. I could barely eat. I made trips to the temple to pray with all my heart for him to come home safe. I told the gods that I'd endure a hundred more years of his bullying if it meant he was alive and would be returning soon.

Upon my last visit, my prayer was answered. Almost too literally.

When I climbed the marble steps to the shrine, there was a strange figure floating in the air in front of it. An oxen skull for a head and a billowing black cloth for a body.

"Uhhh...h-hello."

"I am...the god of death…" it spoke in a deep moan. "Judar...is dead."

"Wha...what?"

"BOOGA BOOGA BOOGA BOOGA!!!"

"AAAAAIIEEEE!!!"

I heard that unmistakable laughter.

"Hahahahaha!!! Oh man, Momoko! You--hahaha! You are just too easy!"

I withdrew my jian from my sash and drove the pommel into his gut. He crumpled to the ground, the oxen skull smashed into pieces, and he rolled about under the cloth as he gasped for air.

"Owwww…"

"That does it!" I roared, "get up, Judar! I'm gonna kick your ass!"

He poked his head out from under the cloth. "Jeez, can't you take a joke? So scary...you're gonna get more wrinkles making that face, old hag."

I smacked his forehead with the pommel.

"OW! Gawd damn!"

"Stop calling me an old hag! I'm fourteen!"

"Man, you're so violent today. What's gotten into you? Is it that time of the month?"

I took the flat of the blade in its sheath and whacked him on his backside repeatedly.

"NO. YOU. IDIOT. YOU. HAVE. PISSED. ME. OFF. REALLY. BAD. THIS. TIME."

"OWOWOWOWOW OKAY OKAY STOP PLEASE!"

I stepped back and slammed the tip of my sword into the ground, clasping my hands over the pommel, glaring intensely at the heap of black cloth.

"Get up and duel me like a man, you pigheaded little pissant!"

He steadily rose to his feet, sporting a wicked grin on his face while he kept the cloth wrapped around him.

"So that's how you wanna play...huh Momoko?" He hissed.

He whipped the cloth around and flung it at me. I drew my sword and slashed it apart. When the pieces of cloth fell away, he stood in a combative stance with his wand ready.

"Bring it on then! But don't cry when I wipe the floor with you, bratty half-pint!"

I wanted to attack, but I found myself frozen in place. Staring.

"Well?!" He snapped, "I'm waiting!"

I put my sword back in its sheath.

"Judar-nii…what the hell are you wearing?"

He was clad in a strange, revealing new outfit. A middle-eastern style ensemble of a cropped black shirt trimmed with gold, puffy black jodhpurs, and a white scarf around his shoulders. He wore gold bangles all up his forearms and a layered gold choker encrusted with a large ruby.

He shrugged. "...What? I got outfitted with a new wardrobe while I was in Sindria, okay? Like I told you before, that frilly stuff you guys wear all the time just isn't my style. But who cares! Look at all these bruises you left on my beautiful skin! You're gonna pay for that!"

I wasn't sure whether to laugh or...let's just say it was the first time I noticed how he was in really good shape.

Abs...

My face turned bright red. I shook myself out of my stupor.

"You look like a prostitute."

"You mean like your mom?"

"DIE!!!"

I sprang into horse stance and lunged.

"Thalg!"

With a swift flick of his wand, a torrent of water splashed out of the shrine's offering basin and froze into a boulder around my arm, my sword just inches from Judar's torso. Had I connected, I would have gut-checked him again pretty hard. But I couldn't move.

"Ouch...c-c-cold!"

He gave his wand a twirl and kicked back with his hands behind his head, a cocky grin on his lips.

"I win. Truce?"

"...Y-y-yeah."

Another flick of his wand made the boulder unfreeze, and the water splashed into a puddle and all over my robes.

I wrung the water out my skirt and tied my sword back into my sash. With a huff, I turned hot on my heels to leave.

Judar trotted after me. "Uh--hey, wait Momoko!"

I picked up my pace and stomped down the first tier of steps. "Leave me alone! I'm still mad at you!"

"What did I do? I said I was just kidding. Jeez, lighten up already."

I whirled around and shoved his chest.

"You don't know what you did?! You had all of us worried sick that something bad happened to you! Because you had to run off and get into a pissing contest with Sinbad again! Don't play dumb with me, I know you showed up here and played your stupid prank because you found out I'd been coming here and praying for you! And then there's the matter of you being a colossal jackass to me before you took Hakuei to conquer that dungeon!"

He was dumbstruck and wide-eyed. A big bad buck reduced back down to a frozen little fawn.

I balled my fists at my side. " Dammit...I wasn't that serious when I said I'd put up with a hundred more years of your bullying. I just wanted you to be okay."

I turned around and was marching off again.

"Well damn...I actually feel like a jerk now." He mumbled.

"Good!" I snapped.

"You're just gonna go on home by yourself then?"

"What do you think, idiot?!"

"But I wanted to show you my new toy."

I felt a whoosh of air over my head, and when I looked up, Judar was sitting on a floating white cloth, which he had taken off of his shoulders.

I was too awestruck to make a rebuttal.

He leaned on his palm and smirked. "I stole it from Sinbad's treasury. Wanna go for a ride?"

He floated low enough for me to climb on, holding out his hand.

I dug my nails into my palm. My eyes stung and watered.

"Damn you...how do you always do this?"

"Hm? Do what? H-hey, come on, why are you crying?"

I'd grown so fed up with crying. I bit my lip and squeezed my eyes shut, forcing myself to stop.

"You always do this...you make me feel like there's a huge storm raging inside me...you make me so happy one minute, and then so sad and worried, or so angry the next. And then you'll make it all blow away, and the waters calm again."

He chuckled and shrugged. "I dunno. Guess I just want to remind you how alive you are. Now come on, Ka Kobun's probably worried about you."

I rubbed my eyes and nose with my sleeve, and then I took his hand and sat down on the carpet next to him.

"Hang on tight."

I crouched down and bunched the cloth in my hands as we soared high into the air, the city growing small below us. The wind whistled in my ears and rushed through my hair. The sunlight felt tingly against my back. Birds whisked by us, calling out shrilly to acknowledge our presence.

"Isn't flying awesome? Why would you take a boring as hell ride in a palanquin or a carriage if you could do this all the time?" Judar hollered.

"Y-yeah!" I hollered back.

it was a fairly short flight back to the palace, but as we approached, Judar veered the carpet upwards and climbed even higher in altitude until we were almost near the clouds.

Frightened, I grabbed onto him. "W-wait! Not so high, Judar-nii!"

"Relax! This is just for fun! I'm not gonna let you fall off, so just enjoy the ride!"

He leveled out the carpet and let it slow into a steady glide, making a wide and leisurely corkscrew as we began our descent towards the palace. The airflow was soft enough that we could speak in normal voices.

"See? I'm an expert flyer. You've got nothing to worry about."

"This is amazing...you can almost see all the way to the Tenzan Plateau from up here!"

Judar crossed his arms and puffed out his chest.

"Gee, thanks for being such a cool guy and taking me on this magical carpet ride, Judar-nii!" he said, mocking my voice.

I yanked on his braid.

"Ow! What the hell?!"

"Apologize!"

"What?! Why should I?"

I cleared my throat. "I'm sorry I've been such a butthead, Momoko. I'll try and be nicer to you from now on." I said, mocking his voice.

"Yeah that."

I elbowed him in the ribs.

"Ow!"

"Say it so I know you mean it!"

"Ugh, all right, I'm sorry! There, happy now?" He growled.

I giggled. "Yep."

"But seriously though...it was kinda stupid of you to pick the peaches from the tree before they were ripe."

"Whatever, I just got excited about it. You don't even check on them anymore, so what do you care?"

"I'll care when they're ripe. But fruit trees take a long time to grow, so what's the point?

"I don't know. It makes me happy looking after those trees."

"Gawd that's so boring. You're weird."

"I'm weird? I'm not the one who dressed up in some hokey costume to scare a girl who was praying on your behalf."

"Bahahaha! I couldn't help myself...Kouha told me all about you going and doing those dumb prayers, and you're just so gullible! You should've seen the look on your face! Ahahahaha--ack!"

He started coughing violently.

"Wha--hey! Are you okay?!"

"Uuuck! I swallowed a bug! _Puh_! _Ptoo_!"

I howled with laughter.

"Shut up, or you'll swallow one too, old hag!"

I covered my mouth, but kept snort-laughing.

"That's called karma, Judar."

"Kiss my ass."

We were getting close to the roof of the palace. He steered the carpet into the garden and landed gently in the grove of peach trees. He flopped onto his back and stretched out on the carpet in the plush grass. I curled up beside him.

"Man, using magic tools like that uses up a lot of magoi. I'm famished."

"Hey, Judar-nii...tell me something. Why did you have to go off and fight Sinbad again? I was really scared for you, you know. I know you're strong, but Sinbad must be really strong too. He has seven metal vessels. You could've gotten hurt really bad."

"I was gonna fight him, but actually I didn't. I just talked to Focalor."

"...huh?"

"Focalor! The djinn, dummy!"

"I know, but...you _talked_ to a djinn?

"Yeah, I can talk to any of them. I have enough power to make them manifest their bodies out of the metal vessels. So I goaded Sinbad into fighting me, tapped on his stupid bracelet, and woke the djinn up so I could talk to him."

"Wow. So what did you talk about?"

"I told Focalor not to let Sinbad into another dungeon. That way he can't get any more metal vessels."

"And he agreed?"

"Yup."

"Even though he's Sinbad's djinn?"

"Yeah. They pretty much have to listen to whatever a Magi says. Plus Focalor already decided the same thing. Seven metal vessels is more than enough for one guy. Doesn't matter how super-special-awesome you are...no one in the world wants a tyrant running around and keeping all the metal vessels to himself."

I heard a loud grumble.

"Damn...that's my stomach." Judar moaned.

He got up and wrapped the carpet back into a scarf around his shoulders.

"Listen up, Momoko. You and and your brothers and sisters gotta keep getting stronger so we can kick Sinbad's ass, okay? He's got seven djinn, eight household members, a whole country of his own with an army, and a bunch of other countries with their own metal vessels on his side. If we're gonna have a chance at beating him when we take over the world, we gotta do some major beefing up. We've got five metal vessels to ourselves, but we're gonna need a lot more. Maybe I can give each of you two of them! That'd show him…"

I sighed. I was hoping I had gotten through to him a little, but he was still as obsessed as ever with defeating his enemy.

He leaned in close to me, that chilling grin spread across his face.

"Don't forget what I said before, Momoko. This is war. You had better be ready. If you're too weak, then I'll leave you in the dirt to be food for the worms."

I swallowed hard, nodding.

He straightened and crossed his arms. "Things are gonna start changing around here again very soon. There'll be no more time to relax and mess around. If you still want a metal vessel, you're gonna have to earn it. Prove to me you're worthy, and then I'll take you to the dungeon just like Hakuei. Got it?"

I nodded fervently. "I'll do it. I'll train even harder and get stronger, Judar-nii."

"Atta girl. Ugh, speaking of girls, I have to start teaching little miss eldest princess to use Paimon now. But first...food. Catcha later, Momoko-hime."

He strolled off towards the courtyard.

I rolled onto my back in the grass and watched the colors change in the sky as the sun went down. The fluffy pink and orange clouds drifted lazily by. I envied their unburdened and carefree existence. I made a silent wish that I could join them on a magic carpet next to a smart-alecky wizard again someday soon. But I knew better. I knew how the real stories went. The genie in the magic jar always made the wish come true in a way you never wanted it to


	5. Strength

ToD: OMFG you gaiz! Two updates in one month?! That's unheard of for me! But I'm hella in the NaNoWriMo spirit! I also finished another chapter in my novel this month too! WOOOO!

*~*~*~*~*~*

 **Chapter 5**

 **Strength**

I took Judar's words very seriously. I was up at the break of dawn every morning to train for the remainder of that summer. I submitted a request to Kouen for use of the other training grounds, and he approved. So after breakfast when the soldiers were running through their drills, exercises, and obstacle courses, I was right there with them, clad in my own set of training gi.

Most of the men laughed and scoffed at me, purposely out pacing me and tripping me up during the relay races. I'd hear jeers like "you're in the way little girl" and "shouldn't you be doing your makeup?"

I didn't care that I was the butt of jokes. I was already used to that. I was just focused on keeping up. All I cared about was getting my chance at obtaining a metal vessel.

I'd come back to my quarters in the evening slick with sweat and mud, my hair a nest of tangles and dirt. It drove Ka Kobun insane. I'd have to be bathed for more than an hour to be presentable for dinner.

Word traveled around rapidly about what I was doing. I'd hear the murmurs of the nobles and military leaders whenever I walked through the palace. Even Kouen's retainers were chiming in on the gossip.

"Who does she think she is? Why isn't she preparing herself to be married off like the rest of those girls?"

"At least the first princess is pure-blood. That little mutt of a child can't even begin to compare."

A prick here, a thorn there. A sidelong glance that would pretend it didn't meet my hawk eyes. Lucky for them I was still just a hatchling, or I'd snatch out their worm of a tongue with my talons.

Kouha caught wind of my activities as well. I guess it made him a bit jealous, so not to be outdone, he joined me. With him around, I didn't catch as much flak from the soldiers anymore.

The air began to chill, and the foliage presented its brilliant rainbow of warm hues again.

Maybe the colors stirred up a bit of creativity in me, because I got a crazy idea one day. I instructed Ka Kobun, Kouha, and Hakuryuu to meet me in the training yard in the afternoon.

"What's this all about, sis? Why'd you call us here?" Kouha asked.

"I want you and Hakuryuu to duel me."

"What?! Both of us?"

"I object! Absolutely not!" Kobun barked.

"Silence, Ka Kobun! I didn't bring you here to get your permission. You are to supervise, and nothing more. That's an order."

"...Very well, your highness. But I'm calling this off if there's even an inkling of you getting injured."

"I have to agree with Ka Kobun," Hakuryuu said, "this doesn't seem very practical. Kouha and I are a little more advanced than you in skill level. I know you've been improving, but this might be too big of a stride."

Kouha had already started leaving.

"Hey! Get back here you chicken-wuss!" I shouted.

"Call me names all you want 'Gyoku-nee. If you got hurt and I was partially to blame, En-nii and Mei-nii would never forgive me. Then there would go my chance at a metal vessel too. I think you've gotten too big for your britches. I'd have been happy to duel you one on one if you'd just asked."

"I've done enough one on one, Kouha! Real warfare isn't one on one! I need to take the next step in my training, so please just do this for me this one time! If you do, I'll uh...I'll bake you a peach cobbler!"

I clasped my hands in the salute to both of them and bowed low.

"Please, brothers. I need your help. No one else can do this for me, and I promise if anything goes wrong I'll take full responsibility. I'll be the one who gets punished and misses out. Please!"

They both mulled it over. I could see the beads of sweat on Kobun's brow as he fidgeted with the feathers on his fan.

Kouha sighed and came back over. "Fine, but you better keep your word on that peach cobbler." He trudged over to the rack of wooden training weapons.

"No Kouha, use _Niyou Rentou_!"

"What?! No way in hell!"

I drew my _jian_.

"You too, Hakuryuu. Use your _guan dao_."

"...Kougyoku, you can't be serious. We never use real weapons in practice sessions."

"That's right!" Ka Kobun hollered. "Now put your sword away, pick up a training weapon, and honor the rules of the training grounds, princess! Otherwise I will be forced to alert Lord Kouen and put an end to your privileges!"

I clenched my teeth and gripped my sword's hilt until my knuckles were white.

"Kouha...Hakuryuu...I'm very serious. Do either of you think for a second that the dangerous creatures in the dungeons won't attack me with real weapons? Do you think that when I finally join the military, our enemies will show me mercy on the battlefield just because I'm a girl? Up until now, every single one of you has taken such good care of me. But it's time to take a step further. Otherwise I'll never be worthy enough to have a metal vessel. I won't be worthy of the title I want. I truly, deeply want to be a warrior...so I need a taste of real combat. Just this once, so I can see how much more I need to train. Please?"

"Wait a minute, I just got an idea!" Kouha exclaimed. "Hey, Meihou!"

Kouha's attendant had been standing idly by. "Yes, Lord Kouha?"

"Go to the armory and fetch the three of us some equipment, would you?"

Meihou obeyed and came back with full sets of armor and padding for each of us. The blades of our weapons were wrapped in a thin layer of cloth bandaging and leather straps so that there was less of a risk of them cutting or piercing.

"Wow, this is perfect, Kouha! Good thinking!" I cheered.

Hakuryuu sighed. "It would've been a lot less tedious to just use practice weapons. All this armor and padding is going to bog down my movements."

"That's not such a bad thing either," Kouha said, "think of it as a handicap for little sis here."

"Hey! You two better not even think of going easy on me, otherwise I might just mop the floor with you and have bragging rights for months!"

We all readied in our combat stances. Hakuryuu was to my left, and Kouha to the right.

"These are the rules," Ka Kobun announced, "If you are touched by a weapon in a vital area that is not armoured, you're out. If you take a blow to an arm or a leg, you must not use that limb for the remainder of the match."

He blew a whistle, and the fight was on. Kouha and Hakuryuu launched into action.

My strategy was to parry and dodge until I could either close into their threat range or wear down their stamina. Kouha's weapon was heavy and his strikes were slow, while Hakuryuu's strikes were swift and rapid. They both had a long reach advantage over my _jian_. So I kept my sword tucked behind me in folded wing stance, centered my balance with my chi fingers, and danced around their attacks on the balls of my feet.

"One more thing!" Kobun called, "If you fall out of bounds, you lose!"

"Smooth timing, Kobun" I mumbled. They had just managed to back me up to the edge of the arena. I barely managed to jump away from their joint strike, Kouha with the flat side of his sword and Hakuryuu with the butt of his spear, meant to push me over the edge. They were both eager to end the fight quickly and safely.

When I landed I was just to the left of Kouha with Hakuryuu covered by his right. With him trying to re-balance his heavy sword, I had an opening. I swung underhand in an upward arc for his armpit, a strike that would claim his limb.

Kouha parried just in time, knocking my sword away with a horizontal swing that put him in a crouch.

Hakuryuu sprang over him with a graceful jumping thrust. He struck my chestplate so hard that it knocked the wind out of me and sent me tumbling backwards. But my reflexes kicked in and I rolled back to my feet.

They were just too fast. Both of them had closed back in and were about to land a strike on either side of my helmet.

Just then, a huge whirlwind shot into the sky from another part of the training grounds. The air pressure was so forceful that we were all blown off balance and tossed around on the ground, our weapons skidding away from our hands. It dissipated after a few seconds.

"Wha….what the hell was that?!" I panted, picking myself back up.

Hakuryuu and Kouha groaned, clambering haphazardly back to their feet.

"That must be Hakuei," said Hakuryuu, picking up his spear. "That's her metal vessel's power. It's wind magic."

"Yeah, Judar must be training her still. She's probably doing really well if she can cast a spell that strong. Man, I can't wait to get my own metal vessel." Kouha said.

Ka Kobun and Meihou were moaning and climbing back into the arena from where they'd been blown to the ground.

"What happened? I didn't see who won." Kobun said, dusting off his robes and putting his cap back on.

"Er, well...do you two wanna start over?" I asked.

Kouha pulled off his helmet and massaged his scalp. "Nah. Me and Hakuryuu would've won anyways. Now my hair's all messed up and I've gotta have Jinjin, Reirei, and Junjun comb it out again."

He collected his sword, and Meihou assisted him with removing his armor.

"See ya around, sis. Don't forget about that peach cobbler you owe me."

Kouha left the training yard.

I pouted, unstrapping my chestplate and massaging the sore spot on my abdomen.

"Are you alright? I didn't get you too hard, did I?" Hakuryuu asked as he took off his armor.

"It's just a bruise. I'll be okay. I've had worse."

"I'd be more than welcome to spend more time training if you like. I could help you drill through some techniques I know for defending against multiple opponents."

"Thanks, Hakuryuu. I'd love that. But maybe we should take a little break first."

"Awww, look at the kiddies all dressed up and playing soldier!" Judar taunted us as he strolled across the arena with Hakuei in tow.

As they approached, I noticed just how exhausted Hakuei was. A heavy sheen of sweat made her hair and clothes cling to her, and her skin was ghostly pale. Her breathing was labored and ragged, and it looked like the veins in her face and neck were bulging. She looked ready to collapse any minute.

Judar on the other hand, was his usual energetic self. He trotted up to us and put his hands on his hips. "So you kiddos have been hard at work training too, eh? That's what I like to see. You look pretty manly in all that armor, old hag. Heheh!"

When Hakuei caught up, he snaked his arm around her shoulders and pressed his cheek against hers. "We've been been having a blast...pun totally intended. Isn't that right, Hakuei?"

Hakuryuu lunged like a viper and shoved Judar away from his sister. "You keep your hands off of her" he hissed.

Judar clicked his tongue. "Well that was awfully rude. Look at the state she's in. I was just trying to help her so we could get some food. Poor girl nearly exhausted her magoi."

Hakuryuu put his sister's arm around his shoulder and held her by the waist. "Then I'll help her. We don't need anything from the likes of you."

Before anything else could be said, Hakuryuu carried Hakuei away from the training grounds.

Judar crossed his arms and bore his icy gaze into their backs. "I don't get that kid. What did _I_ ever do to _him_?" he muttered.

"Judar-nii...what's wrong with Hakuei?"

Judar pursed his lips and huffed, making a sound halfway between a growl and a sigh.

"That's what happens when you try to wield a metal vessel without the proper physical conditioning first. You need to increase the amount of magoi in your body, or the djinn will consume every last drop until you're within an inch of your life, because the djinn needs magoi to grant you its power. It's like a feedback loop of energy. You have to give in order to receive."

He leaned over and gave me an exasperated look. "You see now, Kougyoku? There's no such thing as free power. Well...unless you're me, but I'm the exception, not the rule. That's why you've gotta earn it. Hakuei lets her brother coddle her too much, so she's not getting the hang of it fast enough. By the time I get to you, I expect better. Got it?"

I nodded.

His gaze darted to Ka Kobun.

"You hear that, you old geezer? You better not baby her this whole time. Whip her in to shape. Use an actual whip, for all I care. I'm not gonna tolerate weakness."

With that, he flew off out of reach again.

*

A few days later, I awoke at night to the sound of screams. A discordant fusion of Judar and Hakuei's voices.

"PLEASE, NO MORE!"

"SHUT UP AND DO IT AGAIN!"

I bolted out of bed and threw on a heavy robe, dashing into the cold night air. I pinpointed the sound of their voices coming from the courtyard and I ran towards it, my bare feet pounding on the frigid granite walkways.

Hakuryuu came barreling out of his quarters just ahead of me.

There was a mist clinging to the air throughout the palace that made my lungs ache. The moon painted everything in stark, ghostly silver. I could see the foggy whisps of my breath.

We rushed into the courtyard to find Judar and Hakuei locked in a magical duel, likely a training session that had been dragged on into the night. The both of them were hunched over and covered in sweat, with dark circles plaguing their eyes. Hakuei was crying hysterically into her feathered fan, and Judar was panting and growling like a wild beast.

"Neither of us is getting any sleep until you can do this, so DO IT ALREADY!" Judar roared.

"I'm--I'm t-t-trying!" Hakuei wailed.

"Judar-nii! Stop it!" I shouted.

Hakuyruu was about to sprint in between them, but Judar brandished his wand at us.

"If you two know what's good for you, then you'll stay out of my way!" He hissed.

Hakuryuu froze, but he kept poised like he was prepared to attack. I couldn't bring myself to move.

Judar turned his scowling gaze back to Hakuei. "Listen to me, you pathetic wretch...your magic isn't difficult at all! It's just air! Anyone can move air around!" He waved his arms about and made the mist roil. "See how easy that is?! Now why can't you do it? I'll tell you why! Because YOU'RE WEAK!"

Hakuei mopped her face with her sleeve, lifting her gaze to meet Judar's with equal ferocity. She gasped for air like she was a fish out of water, but she managed to calm herself down from near hyperventilation.

"Now come on, Ren Hakuei!" Judar yelled, "if you're a warrior, if you're worth a damn as a king's candidate, then prove it! Show me the djinn equip!"

Hakuei let out a piercing howl and a torrential whirlwind enveloped her.

"COME ON! IS THAT ALL YOU'VE GOT?! PATHETIC!" Judar bellowed.

Hakuryuu and I shielded our faces from the vacuous storm. After a few seconds, the winds died and Hakuei was crumpled on the ground again, crying.

Judar clenched his teeth and fists, trembling with fury.

"Just as I thought. What a waste of potential."

I saw him cast a split second glance at Hakuryuu. Then his face warped into a twisted grin.

"If you can't wield Paimon...if you can't be a proper king's candidate...then…"

He raised his wand above his head and gathered the fog into a churning mass of water.

" _Thalg_."

The water froze into a huge sliver of ice.

"...there's really no point in keeping you around, is there Hakuei?"

"NOOO!!!" Hakuryuu leapt towards Judar with an outstretched fist.

Judar hurled the chunk of ice at Hakuryuu's feet.

"STOP IT!" I screamed.

My eyes squeezed shut on their own. I didn't want to see what Judar had done.

When I opened them again, Hakuryuu was frozen mid-fall in a cage of jutting icicles. He could still move his head, but his arms and legs were trapped. He groaned with the pain of the freezing cold biting into him.

"Hakuryuu!" his sister cried, "let him go, you monster!"

Judar howled with maniacal laughter.

"You're right! Ahahahaha! That's exactly what I am! But if that's what I need to be to get results, then that's just fine!"

He hobbled over to Hakuryuu and grabbed him by the hair.

"I know exactly why you can't master the djinn, Hakuei. I know exactly what's holding you back."

Hakuei's face contorted into sheer terror.

Judar grinned and ignited a small flame at the tip of his wand. Hakuryuu stared at it like he might vomit.

"Why don't I make this even easier for you, Hakuei? Either you perform the djinn equip, or I'm going to finish ruining your baby brother's face!"

"NO DON'T!" I shrieked.

Hakuei let out a scream that could've split the heavens, and then she became a massive gale storm.

Judar extinguished the flame and called out to her. "THAT'S IT! NOW SAY THE WORDS! SURRENDER TO THE DJINN AND EMBRACE THE GIFT OF ITS POWER!"

" _Spirit of Maniacal Love and Chaos! I order thee and thy sacred brethren to use my magoi and grant me your power! Dwell in my body! PAIMON_!"

It was like the whirlwind became Hakuei herself, and when the twisters dissipated she was clad in ethereal white, hovering in midair and adorned with gold jewelry from head to toe. Her hair had become brilliant white feathers and her fan was now a long staff. It was my first time witnessing the transformation of a full body djinn equip, and it was unlike anything I had ever dreamed of.

She could only maintain the djinn's transformation for a few seconds. With a flash of light, she returned to normal and then collapsed.

Judar breathed heavily. "It's about damn time…"

He pointed his wand and melted the ice around Hakuryuu.

Hakuryuu repaid him by tackling him to the ground and pummeling his face.

I couldn't take it anymore. I was terrified, but I rushed in and tried to pull Hakuryuu off of Judar.

"Stop it, please! No more violence! Stop, Hakuryuu!"

"THAT'S ENOUGH! ALL OF YOU BACK OFF, NOW!"

That was the roar of Kouen's voice. He and Koumei, Empress Gyokuen, a handful of priests, and our attendants and servants, had arrived to put an end to the commotion. Most of them were in their bedclothes like they'd been woken up the way Hakuryuu and I had.

Kouen marched over and jerked Hakuryuu away from Judar by the the scruff of his neck. Judar lay motionless flat on his back, huffing from shortness of breath, blood oozing from his nose and mouth.

Kouen went over to the unconscious Hakuei and scooped her up in his arms.

"Judar. From here on out, you're dismissed from training Hakuei."

Judar rolled over and pounded his fist on the ground.

"That's bullshit! I'm not even close to being done with her yet! She still hasn't mastered--"

"That's an order! Non-negotiable!" Kouen barked. "I will take over for the remainder of her training. I've mastered the djinn equip, so I can easily provide her with the skills she needs from now on. You are to shift your focus to preparing Kouha for the conquest of a dungeon. Understood?"

Judar wearily pushed himself to a kneeling position, spitting blood out of his mouth. "Fine."

"As for the rest of you," Kouen growled, "go the hell back to bed! I'm implementing a curfew, and there are to be no more midnight excursions of training! Do I make myself clear?!"

"Yes, big brother!" I cried. The other two said nothing.

"Judar! Hakuryuu! Respond, now!" Kouen snapped.

"Yes sir." Hakuryuu mumbled.

"Whatever." Judar hissed.

Everyone began to scatter. Kouen had a throng of servants take Hakuei to get medical treatment, and followed after them. Koumei put his heavy robe around the shivering and soaking wet Hakuryuu, guiding him with an arm around his shoulders back to his quarters.

I remained near Judar, who was fixated on the tiny drops of blood that were leaking out of his nose and split lip, splattering on the ground.

I knelt down, digging a handkerchief out of my robe pocket and holding it out to him. "Judar-nii...are you okay?"

He slapped my hand away. "Mind your own business, old hag. Don't ever get in my way again."

He staggered to his feet and shuffled over to Empress Gyokuen and the priests, who swallowed him up and escorted him out of my sight like they always did.

Ka Kobun collected me and ushered me back to my quarters, scolding me the whole way about being out too late and trying to involve myself in an incident when I should've gone to my elders for help.

What an awful memory. My stomach and chest were nothing but a tangle of knots for the rest of the night, and as much as I wanted to cry, I just couldn't. Instead it was bouts of cold sweat, and my thoughts were a hurricane that decided those veiled people must be real monsters.

When I finally did fall asleep, I was plagued by terrifying visions.

I dreamt of the priests lifting their veils to show me their bear jowls, crocodile jaws, shark's teeth, and lamprey eel mouths that they always needed to hide. I dreamt of Empress Gyokuen's impossibly long fingernails and glassy eyes with no light behind them. I dreamt of that cherry eyed, pink cheeked little boy surrounded by peach blossom petals dancing in the wind, who put a flower in my hair and smiled at me. But then all the monsters snatched him up and carried him off to a deep dark forest full of dead trees and brambles in the mountains. In his place they put a creaking little wooden doll with a cruel laugh, gleaming blood red eyes, and a face like an oni mask, as though I would never notice.

And then in my dream, the sky opened up into beams of sunlight, a refreshing breeze, and pillowy clouds. And Hakuei came out of the sky to me, dazzling and white with her glittering gold jewelry and feathers for hair. She smiled and laughed and took my hand, and we soared into the sky. We chased the birds, danced on the clouds, and spun around in circles with our hands clasped to make whirlwinds.

At the end of my dream, the bright sky became a dark thunderstorm, and Judar flew up to us on his magic carpet, laughing madly while he hurled lightning bolts and rained spears of icy hail. Hakuei transformed into Hakuryuu covered in black crow's feathers, and he leapt with his spear, piercing Judar's heart. Together they plummeted from the sky and plunged into the ocean's depths.

I awoke in the morning to beams of sunlight and bird songs, but my heart pounded and I was slick with sweat. And my first thought was how cruel fate was to me, that I should learn of the power I so desperately wanted to inherit in such a manner.

*

I continued to train harder than ever, pitting myself against the most grueling challenges the army's instructors could throw at me. Kouha did too. I told him all about that night in the courtyard with Judar and Hakuei, and what Judar said about being prepared.

Judar made it a point to watch us from the rooftops and monitor our progress every so often. We started performing more drills and duels with each other in the training yard, just to show him how serious we were. He never gave us any critique, or even a rare word of encouragement. He kept his distance like he was a mountain lion sizing up a kill.

And when he wasn't doing that, I began to take notice of Judar's other activities. Gaggles of handmaidens and concubines showing off hickeys and bruises to each other. Amphoras of liquor and peach pits strewn about on rooftops and in planters around the palace. One of the vassals always complaining that he'd ditched another war council. He was becoming quite self-indulgent, shirking his official duties to enjoy whatever he fancied in the moment. And he was almost never in the garden anymore.

It would be several more months, just after Kouha and I had turned fifteen, until Judar invited Kouha to conquer a dungeon.

Kouen insisted on accompanying them this time. Whether it was to make absolutely certain that Kouha would succeed, or to keep Judar's penchant for wanton cruelty in check, I had no way of knowing. I wondered if Kouen would do the same for me.

Regardless, they were successful. Kouha became a king's candidate, and the master of the djinn Leraje.

Awhile after that, a very similar scene to the one between Judar and Hakuei played out. Only this time it was in the scorching daylight of the following summer.

"What are you doing here, old hag? Didn't I tell you not to get in the way?"

"Hmph. I'm just here to observe. I'm next in line aren't I? Don't you think it'd be good for me to see what training with a metal vessel is like? Besides, with the way yours and Kouha's tempers are, it's probably better if someone were here to make sure one or both of you won't end up dead."

" _Tch._ Fine. Do whatever you want."

Kouha seemed confident as ever. "Don't worry your pretty little head, sis. Judar-kun's got a lot of bark, but not much bite."

"You're gonna eat those words, girly boy!"

Evidently Judar had already been spending time familiarizing Kouha with the djinn's magic, because they immediately commenced with a duel. Kouha was a fast learner and had already caught on to applying the djinn's power to his weapon. I was amazed by how he could change _Niyou Rentou's_ size and weight at will.

But soon enough, Judar was able to wear down Kouha's stamina with his relentless barrage of ice projectiles.

"Come on now, Kouha. If you fight like that, you're not going to be able to do the full body djinn equip. You're too focused on that stupidly big sword. The real weapon should be _you_!"

Judar sent Kouha crashing to the ground with a powerful gust of wind.

"What a joke. You've wasted all that time doing physical training, because you were too concerned with your upper body strength so you could wave around your sword. It's not that big of a difference, but the old hag over there's got more magoi than you. She can run laps around you! I've watched! Hahahaha! How embarrassing is that?"

Judar knew exactly what nerves to work. Kouha never liked being compared to his siblings and feeling inadequate. He got back to his feet in the blink of an eye and charged in a fit of rage.

Judar simply repelled the attack with his _borg_. But Kouha started pounding away at the shield.

"Tell you what, Kouha. If you can break through my _borg_ with your strength magic, I'll give you the most sincere apology I can muster. But until then, I'm gonna say absolutely everything that's on my mind about you."

A dark, purplish energy enveloped Kouha's sword, and the eight pointed star on the blade illuminated brightly. He let out a fierce battle cry and began hammering away at the shield as hard as he could.

Judar crossed his arms and slouched, sporting an exasperated expression. "Hmph. This'll probably take all day. Get comfy over there, old hag."

 _SMASH_

He grinned. "...You know something funny, Kouha?"

 _SMASH_

"I think it's utterly hilarious how Leraje was about to pick Kouen over you!"

 _SMASH_

"Heheheheh! Just thinking about it cracks me up! Ahahahaha!"

 _SMASH_

"What was it the old biddy said, again?"

 _SMASH_

"She said 'if I were any other djinn I'd pick your ruggedly handsome brother in a heartbeat. No one bathed in the sun would choose a man like you as king. But your brother's already got three djinn, so he's just a playboy cheater!' What a bitter wench..."

 _SMASH SMASH SMASH_

"In other words, it was just a stroke of dumb luck for you. Because that djinn happened to be some washed up old harlot, and you happened to be a scrawny, effeminate little pretty boy! Ahahahaha! Is that a gut-buster or what?!"

"RRRRRGH! SHUT THE HELL UP, JUDAR!"

By now, Kouha looked a lot like Hakuei did before. He was dripping head to toe with sweat, his hair stuck to his face, his veins were bulging and his skin was pale. He huffed and puffed and growled and roared as he swung his sword with all his might. But still Judar's _borg_ showed no signs of giving out.

I made myself handy and brought Kouha a drink of water from a flask. He guzzled the whole thing down within seconds and then went right back to his assault, despite the glaring red blisters I saw on his hands.

Judar kept on with his verbal lashings. "You know something else, Kouha?"

 _SMASH_

"It was pretty weak how you were about to just give in and let Kouen have another djinn."

 _SMASH_

"You said 'it's fine if you can make me part of Kouen's household'. You were willing to settle for a mere household vessel? That's the most idiotic thing I've ever heard!"

 _SMASH_

"Why the hell would you work so hard if you were just gonna settle for what's second best, huh? You know what kind of a person does that? A spineless coward! A loser!"

 _SMASH SMASH SMASH SMASH_

"So tell me, Kouha! Why should I go through the trouble of making you worth a damn, if that's what your true nature is? You're just like Hakuei! The only reason you can be a king's candidate is because big brother Kouen is holding your hand! HOW PATHETIC!"

"Rrrraaaaaaagh!"

Kouha cleaved at the _borg_ so hard that his sword slipped from his hands and went clattering across the arena. He dropped to his knees from exhaustion.

However, there was now a small crack in the shield.

Judar put his hands on his hips and the _borg_ dissolved. "Not bad. But nowhere near good enough. The only way you're gonna break through my borg is to do the djinn's full body transformation."

"Hey, that's not fair, Judar-nii!" I shouted. "He's not ready for that yet! Look how tired he is! What if he's too low on magoi?!"

Judar shrugged. "Then do something useful and go get him some food. But I'm gonna get a djinn equip out of this kid today one way or another. I'm fed up with waiting around for you brats to be ready. It's now or never. And if it's never, I can easily put that metal vessel right back into the dungeon. I raised it once already, so I can raise it again."

 _That's so harsh, Judar. Did your heart freeze over when the witch showed you how to play with ice?_

That's what I wanted to say. But instead I sprinted off all the way to the garden.

Perfect. The fruit was ready to eat now.

I came dashing back to the training grounds with an armful of ripe peaches. I knelt down in the arena and handed one to Kouha.

I was a bit dejected by this. He wasn't the first person I was hoping to share these with.

Not that it mattered. Judar snatched a fruit for himself and greedily bit into it.

"Hurry up, Kouha. And get out of the way, old hag."

I begrudgingly obeyed and sat back down along the wall with my snack. Kouha finished off his fruit. It only seemed to help a little, but nonetheless he got back to his feet.

Judar tossed his peach pit aside and crossed his arms. "Let's go, baby prince! Do what I taught you and say the words!"

Kouha held his sword in mountain stance, took a deep breath, and closed his eyes, entering into a meditative state. He began to exude a bright magenta aura, and purple crystals sprouted from his arms.

" _Spirit of Grief and Retribution! I order thee and thy sacred brethren to use my magoi and grant me your power! Dwell in my body! LERAJE_!"

There came a blinding flash of light, and then Kouha was adorned with red-violet crystal armor, levitating crystal wings, and flowing lavender hair. His sword had changed to a massive violet-red scythe with a hammer-head opposite the blade.

Even he dazzled me with the beauty of the djinn's transformation.

"Well, well…" Judar said with a slow clap, "maybe you're not such a wimp after all. Now let's see if you can keep it up! Come on! Break the _borg_!"

Kouha howled and flew with blinding speed at Judar, swinging the hammer-head into the shield. But the result was the same, and he merely continued to buffet against the shield.

Judar clicked his tongue. " _Tsk tsk._ That's just too bad, Kouha. Even with all that power, you aren't up to snuff. You might as well leave that power to Kouen after all, you worthless little runt! Go back to being your mommy's mommy!"

"AAAAAAAAAAGH!"

Kouha whirled around with the scythe blade and delivered a blow so crushingly forceful that the borg shattered instantly. Judar threw his arms up over his face and dodged, just barely missing the oncoming slash.

Kouha slammed his weapon into the arena so hard that the ground cracked and the blade stuck there. A flash of light and he was back to normal, leaning on his sword and panting before he collapsed, unconscious.

I ran to Kouha's side, gathering him up in my arms and making sure he still had a pulse. He was clammy and sweaty, but he was still breathing. Thank goodness.

Judar traipsed over and leaned above us, his eyes piercing into me and that fiendishly gleeful smirk upon his lips. Apparently he hadn't completely been missed by Kouha's strike. Blood trickled down his forearm and the bridge of his nose from small cuts.

He cocked his head to the side. "Looks like it's your turn now, Momoko."

I swallowed hard. "That's right, Judar-nii."

He crouched down in front of me, still staring intensely. I shivered.

"Tell you what, my little princess...I'm gonna be extra nice to you and make you a deal. So far except for Kouen, your siblings have been a huge disappointment. None of them were prepared to accept the role of king's candidate."

He reached out and gently cupped my cheek, brushing along my chin with his fingers and thumb. He smeared a little blood on my face. I felt my cheeks flush and get hot, but the rest of my body seemed to chill with his touch. I trembled.

With his other hand, he held up a finger. "One year, Momoko. That's all you get. You stay focused and get stronger for another year, and then on your sixteenth birthday, I'll give you the greatest gift ever. I'll give you a metal vessel. That's how old Kouen was when he got his first one, after all. What do you say, am I being fair now?"

I swallowed again, and my lips twitched into a smile. "Y-yeah. That sounds fair."

He took his hand off my cheek and stuck out his pinky finger. "Promise me you'll be strong, Momoko-hime."

I wrapped my pinky around his. "I promise."


	6. Fruition

**Chapter 6**

 **Fruition**

The year leading up to my conquest of a dungeon was a blur of peculiar events.

I kept to my training regimen as usual, focusing on increasing my overall body strength so that I would have a sufficient supply of magoi for the djinn's transformation. The average day for me was just a nonstop haze of exercising, drilling, martial arts practice, eating, and sleep. I didn't have a spare moment for frivolous activities anymore.

With Kouen's help, Hakuei and Kouha managed to master their metal vessels. The both of them received an extravagant ceremony held in their honor in which they were named generals and conscripted into the military. Shortly afterwards, Hakuei was shipped out in a caravan to join the northern subjugation army in the Tenka plains.

Kouha wasn't planned for deployment yet, but he began putting together his own squadron made up of societal outcasts, compassionately granting select groups of people a second chance at life under his command. Most of the nobles and military elite criticized him for it, but I admired him for his virtue.

While I was proud of my siblings for all their accomplishments, I found myself becoming quite lonely again. All my sisters had been sent away to be married. Hakuei began her journey north. My brothers were as busy as ever.

There were only two people left to keep company with. Hakuryuu and Judar.

Hakuryuu still met up with me on the training grounds every so often, but ever since that incident with Hakuei's training, along with her deployment, he seemed to withdraw into his shell again. Our conversations were sparse, and no matter how enthusiastic or cheerful I was, he just seemed to curl into himself like a melancholy little tortoise. I'd run out of the willpower to try and help him overcome his ennui, so I just decided to leave him be and stay focused on my own goals.

Judar was a different story. He seemed to be steadily simmering down from his aggressive temperament. After awhile, he went out of his way to make amends with everyone, but he did so in a manner that was typical of him.

The first instance was right before Hakuei was sent off and we held a banquet for her. I saw Judar conversing and laughing with her like the infamous night of training had never even happened. Then he ended up sharing a few bottles of rice wine with her, and by the end of the night he got up in front of the whole dining room on a table and was singing patriotic anthems and marching cadences for her. It was fun, but as long as I'm being honest with myself, it made me a bit jealous.

Then he approached Hakuryuu with apologies, and since the fourth prince had recently come of age, Judar invited him out on the town for drinks. I don't know how he pulled it off, but Hakuryuu agreed and they disappeared until sunrise. I found them passed out together in the garden the next day, along with a huge porcelain antique vase from the throne room stuffed full of peaches from the trees, which a hungover Judar explained to me was fermenting to make more liqueur. Ka Kobun and I got them cleaned up and put to bed. Poor Hakuryuu didn't seem to have the stomach for alcohol, and Judar spent the whole day with migraines that made him babble incoherently.

A few weeks later the same scenario played out, only this time it was with Koumei and Kouha. Luckily Koumei was responsible and could hold his liquor. He ended up driving a wagon home in the middle of the night with Judar and Kouha out cold and snuggling in a pile of straw. I was beginning to wonder why no one would cut off Judar from alcohol altogether.

Meanwhile, he was still the same trickster he always was with me. Instead of inviting me for excursions of alcoholism, I got treated to endless teasing and pranks.

"Judar-nii! Why'd you eat all the peaches in my bath?!"

"There were so many, what difference does it make if I help myself to a few?"

"But you ate all of them! Those were for my beauty care!"

"Beauty care? So you really have a bunch of wrinkles like an old granny?"

"Why you--!"

"Ow, stop throwing things at me and hear me out! There's no way putting peaches in your bath is good for your skin."

"Then what should I put in?"

"Hmmm...okay listen up 'cause this is my best kept secret. Have you ever heard of the legendary Gerozoma tribe from the Dark Continent that never seem to age?"

"No."

"Well...this is what they put in their bath…"

"...This is strange."

"P-princess?! What are you doing?! Why are you bathing with hogs?"

"BWAAAHAHAHAHA THE OLD HAG ACTUALLY DID IT!"

That was just one of many similar instances. He'd tease me during my sword practice, taunting me and sneaking up from behind to tickle me. He'd fling food at me during meal times. He'd hide toads and bugs in my wardrobe. He'd tug on my hair, pinch my cheeks, and flip up my skirt. One time he found me crying because the maids wouldn't chat with me, and all he said was "Yo, shut up and stop crying, old hag!"

It got so bad that Ka Kobun was always chasing him away from me and watching me like a hawk. It was almost like Judar was doing his utmost to distract me. I couldn't tell if he wanted attention because he was lonely too, or if he just thought I was good for cheap thrills and laughs. Knowing him it was most likely the latter. Either way, it didn't make me feel like he thought of me as a friend anymore. I surmised that Koumei had been right.

Or maybe it was his unorthodox way of testing me to make sure I could stay vigilant? That was a comforting theory, but I had no way of confirming it.

But that was mildly irritating compared to all the sidelong scowls and mud-slinging whispers from the elders everywhere I went.

"I can't believe they're really going to give that bubble-headed little girl a metal vessel. It's bad enough they let her go among the soldiers. She taints those fine young men with her low-born presence."

"Why should that come as a surprise? They inducted her half-breed brother into the military as well, and that boy just collects a bunch of peons even lowlier than him to put under his command. Honestly, this country has fallen far since the passing of the first emperor. Our only saving grace is the high priest and Prince Kouen."

I tried my best to ignore it all, but it kept chipping away at my self-esteem; those acidic words always churning and broiling about in the back of my mind.

About a week before my birthday, I heard the rumor mill all over again, and it was enough to crack through the floodgates on my emotions. I ran off to my favorite spot in the garden and bawled my eyes out.

"Awww, ugly little duckling. _Tsk tsk_. Whatever is the matter with her royal crybaby-ness now?"

I squinted the tears out of my eyes to see Judar and Kouen standing over me. Ashamed that they'd found me in such a pitiful state, I hid my face behind my sleeves and pawed at my eyes with a handkerchief.

Judar quirked an eyebrow and rubbed the back of his head. "And here I was just telling Kouen what a great job you've been doing with keeping up your training."

"Is everything alright, Kougyoku?" Said Kouen.

I sniffled and inhaled sharply, trying to regain my composure. "...y-yes. I'm s-s-sorry. I'm just t-tired of all the g-gossip. It's really been h-hurting my feelings."

Judar grumbled. "Ugh, you really listen to all the crap those old farts are always spewing? Come on now. They're just jealous! Know why?"

I whimpered and shook my head, rubbing my eyes with my sleeve.

Judar reached down with an outstretched hand.

"You're strong, Kougyoku!"

He smiled at me. A smile I hadn't seen in ages. The smile of the little boy in a breezy storm of dancing peach blossoms.

Kouen was smirking too, the way he used to look at me when he watched my sparring matches with the soldiers.

I took Judar's hand and he pulled me to my feet. Kouen tugged me into a warm embrace and patted my back.

"Let the hearsay fall by the wayside, dear sister. Soon enough they'll have to bow their heads and answer to you as a general."

"Yeah, you're gonna be a kickass dungeon capturer who can smite those dumb geezers in the blink of an eye! You've got one more week, so dry that soggy face of yours and don't forget!"

I smiled and laughed.

"Fix your craptastic caked-on makeup too."

I sputtered. "Eh?! Judar, you dirtbag!"

He got punched.

"OW, SHIT! NOT IN THE FACE, KOUEN!"

*

A week later. The morning of my sixteenth birthday.

I could barely sleep the night before, and I was practically just a gnarled bundle of raw nerves. I'd read so many tales and heard so many whispers about how dangerous and terrifying the dungeons were. I'd seen the bands of ferocious looking creatures that my brothers managed to capture and bring back on their expeditions. I'd listened to the reports on how many casualties there were from the elite regiments of soldiers that had been sent in. They always numbered in the thousands.

Was I truly ready for this? I'd been preparing for almost a decade...but would it be enough?

I clasped my hands in prayer and buried my face in my sleeves, taking deep breaths. I tried to swallow all the fear that was welling up in my throat back down into the pit of my stomach, as I waited at the palace gates with Ka Kobun and the battalion of soldiers that had been hand selected by Kouen. The only one missing was the person we needed to guide us to our destination.

"How dare he keep us waiting! That pompous, insolent, lackadaisical, good-for-nothing bastard!"

"Calm down before you burst a capillary, Ka Kobun. You know how Judar is. He's probably just...fixing his hair still, or something."

"We agreed during the council meeting yesterday, which he was ever so conveniently absent from mind you, to meet here at precisely this time! I would've hoped Lord Kouen at least passed along the message, but it seems I put too much faith in the high priest's punctuality!"

"Should we go look for him?"

"No! He ought to know better. We shall wait until he finally arrives, and then I shall give him the scolding of a lifetime!"

"...I'm gonna go look for him."

"Gyah! Your highness, get back here! ...Wait for me, then!"

I scoured every corner of the palace for our high priest, checking all his usual hangout spots and favorite hiding places. I grilled every servant I came across with questions of his possible whereabouts. No one had seen him and he was in no place that I looked. The only place I had yet to check was his quarters.

"You don't think he could've forgotten and overslept?"

"He better not have! I may be a lowly vassal but I'll still tan his hide!"

Judar's quarters consisted of an opulent little villa tucked away in a private corner of the palace near the chambers of the Emperor and Empress. He had a beautiful sand and rock garden cut through by a stream and koi pond fed from the aqueducts out front, and a steaming private hot spring walled off in the back. With the way he got to live, it was no wonder he had such an over inflated ego.

I rapped on the massive double doors with one of the ornamental brass knockers.

"Come out here this instant, you imbecile!"

"Hush, Ka Kobun! You let me speak to him!"

The door creaked open, and a disheveled, sleepy looking Judar poked his head out. His hair was undone and he was still in his bedclothes. His makeup was smeared, and all over his face and neck were red smudges of lip paint. He smelled heavily of alcohol and some other smokey scent I couldn't identify.

He yawned, scratched his head and smacked his lips. "Izzit mornin' awready?" he croaked.

"I don't believe this! You really did oversleep and forget! Unacceptable!" Kobun yelled.

"Urgh...why're you so damn loud?"

I stomped on Kobun's foot and he yelped.

"For the last time, Ka Kobun, shut the hell up!" I snapped.

I plastered a sweet smile on my face and turned back to Judar. "Judar-nii...today's my birthday. It's a big day for all of us, remember?"

He blinked the dryness out of his bloodshot eyes. "Oh...oh yeah. That's today? Shit...I forgot. Gimme a sec…"

He clicked the door shut. There came a ruckus from the inside that sounded like furniture being knocked over, and then a choir of shrieking girls' voices erupted.

"Out! Get out! All of you! GET OUT!"

The doors burst open and a scrambling pack of girls in their rumpled bedclothes and bedraggled hanfu came spilling out, making a dash back to their rightful places to make themselves decent before they were caught.

Judar pulled the doors shut again, presumably to make himself presentable. Kobun and I stood there waiting for a few moments before he poked his head out of the door again.

"Dammit, I just kicked out my chambermaid too. C'mere old hag."

Before I could say anything in protest, he grabbed my hand and pulled me inside, slamming the door shut in Kobun's face.

I stood awkwardly in the foyer while he disappeared behind a wooden divider near his huge canopied bed to change. In our culture, inviting someone into your room carried the implications that you had a rather intimate relationship, so I felt really out of place and flustered. Not that Judar ever cared about customs or etiquette in the first place.

I listened to him fumble about and curse while he got dressed, taking in the sight of my new surroundings. I could tell that normally the place was quite luxurious and put together as though he were royalty, but right now it looked like a hurricane had traveled through. Parlor furniture overturned. Clothes, linens and tapestries scattered everywhere. Empty liquor bottles and dishes strewn about. A thick haze of that pungent smoke clinging to the air. Evidently he spent the night having a spontaneous celebration and...pleasurable company.

He emerged fully dressed and noticed me being apprehensive. "Oi. Don't worry about all that. Come over here and help me."

I climbed the steps out of the foyer, tiptoeing around the debris and making my way to where he was seated at a vanity.

He splashed his face with water from a basin and then handed me a comb. "Would you mind?"

"Of course not."

He toweled off and then opened a gold phial with a snake coiled around it, tapping out a bit of black powder into a saucer and mixing it with water using a brush.

"You still wear that every day even though it was something the Empress made you do?"

He shrugged. "Yeah. I like it. Makes me look badass."

I snickered. "This is so weird. I never imagined I'd be doing something like this for you. It's like I'm your mom or something."

"Don't go getting all sappy and maternal on me. Ow damn, I poked my eye."

I chuckled and ran my fingers through his silky hair, dividing it up and weaving it into a plait.

"Oh, you don't have to do that part. Watch this."

He picked up his wand and gave it a twirl, and his hair swirled around little puffs of air. He tied it off using magic too.

"Show off."

"Pfff...you'd do your hair like that too if you could. Dammit, I diluted it too much again."

"Oh please, let me do your makeup. I've had plenty of practice."

I dampened the towel and dabbed the runny kohl off his eyes before grabbing the brush and turning him around on his bench. I remixed his makeup and used pins to secure his fringy bangs out of his eyes, and then I carefully painted on the eyeshadow, my hands trembling with the fine movements.

When he wasn't making a weird face to keep the powder from falling into his eyes, his gaze was locked on me. Normally that gaze gave me shivers, but today it felt strangely warm...like the vermillion of his irises were smoldering embers.

"...You nervous, Momoko-hime?"

I heaved a sigh. "Yeah. Didn't sleep well. Wish I'd known you were partying your ass off. You never invite me, but you'll rollick around with all my brothers, and every handmaiden and courtesan around the palace, hm?"

He scoffed. "I dunno...that kinda stuff just seems beneath you. Didn't seem appropriate."

"Since when do you worry about what's appropriate?"

"When it comes to you? ...Most--well...some of the time."

"Except when you want an easy target for your mischief."

"Uh, well...I like the faces you make when you're all mad and stuff. It's kinda cute."

My eyes bulged. I punched him in the shoulder.

"What the hell is wrong with you? This is not the Judar I know and...er...know."

"Heheh...sorry. Maybe I'm still a bit high."

"Ugh, you debaucherous lech. There, your eyeshadow's done." I pulled the pins out of his hair and patted his cheek playfully. "Now come on slut, we've got a dungeon to conquer."

"Momoko…"

Before I could move away, he draped his lanky arms around my shoulders. He buried his face in the crook of my neck, and I caught sight of the redness of his ears in the mirror.

"Um...just so you know, no matter what happens out there, even if you fail and I gotta come to your rescue or something...I'm not gonna think any differently of you. You really are strong. I wouldn't give you such a hard time if I didn't think that. If I truly thought you were weak, I wouldn't even bother with you."

My pulse started racing and my face turned the color of a healthy tomato. I wriggled out of his grasp.

"Hey hey hey!" I exclaimed, waving my hands about sheepishly. "Who's the one getting sappy now, huh? C-c-can we please just go already?"

He pursed his lips, looking rather offended. "Hmph. See if I ever try to pay you a compliment again, old hag."

He tugged on the scruff of my robe and marched over to his window, throwing it open and flinging his magic carpet outside. I was tossed aboard and before I knew it, we were whizzing into the sky.

"W-wait! Judar-nii! What about Ka Kobun?!"

"Hm? Oh. I totally forgot he was even there."

"YOU BASTARD!"

"What about all the soldiers?"

"Screw that, we can manage without em."

He dive bombed Ka Kobun and hurled him onto the carpet with a gust of wind, and just like that we were off to the dungeon.

*

After hours of flying eastward out into the ocean, we were hovering above an enormous red and white structure. It looked deceptively like an ancient pagoda temple from our country, except it was far too wide and tall. It jutted out of the water in the middle of the ocean.

"So that's really a dungeon, Judar-nii?"

"Yep. That's just the top of it, too. The rest goes deep down into the ocean."

Ka Kobun gasped. "Seriously?! How are the three of us supposed to go through that entire building by ourselves? I bet you could spend weeks in there!"

"Don't be chicken-shit, old geezer. You're supposed to protect the princess, so if you're gonna wuss out now you might as well jump into the ocean and feed yourself to the sharks."

"Never! I, the great Ka Kobun, would never disgrace myself with such cowardice! I have sworn to protect her highness princess Kougyoku at all costs!"

"Ugh, if you don't shut up I'm gonna feed you to the sharks anyways."

"Judar-nii, how are we supposed to get in? I don't see a door."

Judar smirked and leaned over the edge, pointing down.

"See that glimmer of light down in the depths? That's the entrance."

I gulped. "Wh-what?! It's way down there?"

Judar crossed his arms. "Yep. We haven't had any reports of anyone successfully entering this dungeon. Most have drowned before they even get inside." He heaved a sigh. "To be honest, I didn't really want to bring anyone to this one. It scares me. The djinn inside...it gives me the creeps. But it's the only one left near our territories."

I felt ice creep down my spine. A djinn that scared even Judar?! Just what was I in for?!

He put an arm around my shoulders and smiled. "Don't you worry, Kougyoku. I'm gonna make this easy for you. But unfortunately, I won't be able to go inside, so you and grandpa will be on your own."

"Wait, what? Why can't you come with us?"

He didn't answer me, but instead stood up on the carpet and clutched his wand, taking a deep breath.

Suddenly there came a whistle as an arrow whizzed passed us.

Judar reacted instantly, throwing up a _borg_ around all of us just as a great volley of arrows came sailing through the air directly at us. They plinked against the shield and fell away.

"Back off you Kou cretins! That dungeon is ours!"

I uncovered my head to see a whole battalion of soldiers dressed in black and white clothing with horned masks over their eyes, standing atop huge chunks of flying rocks. Their leader carried a huge curved sword and wore armor.

"I am General Yamato Takeruhiko, and I will be claiming that dungeon in the name of Kina Kingdom and the Seven Seas Alliance!"

Judar snarled and raised his arms like he was lifting a great amount of weight. I heard the churning of water below, and I had to rub my eyes to make sure what I saw was real as I looked over the edge.

There was a huge mass of water from around the dungeon rising into the air like a great wall, climbing higher and higher until the water formed a huge ring around the dungeon and the entire structure was no longer submerged. A ring of bare sand was around the base of the tower, with sea creatures confusedly flopping around.

"This is MY dungeon, you fucking morons!" Judar roared. "No one is getting in except MY king's candidate! And tell your buddy Sinbad to go fuck himself!!!"

The wall of water began to form into huge spires of ice, which then began to splinter off into smaller shards that Judar began hurling at the Kina soldiers.

The archers were reloading their bows as they dodged the ice with their flying rocks.

Judar sprang off of the carpet into the air, maintaining a borg around himself.

"Go now, Kougyoku! I won't be able to hold the sea up much longer! GO!" He shouted.

I heeded his words and gripped the carpet, diving down towards the shimmering light that was the entrance to the dungeon. Ka Kobun screamed like a girl and grabbed onto my waist as I careened through the air to dodge oncoming arrows. I felt a huge gust of air and I didn't look back, but I could tell Judar had conjured a whirlwind to deflect arrows away from us.

"I'M GONNA KILL YOU ALL!!!" Judar howled. "YOU PICKED THE WRONG FIGHT ON THE WRONG DAY! NOW DIIIIE!!!"

I heard cracks of lightning. I saw the sky darkening and swirling. Never had I seen him so enraged and destructive. With one last look back, I marveled at the force of nature he had become. I also thought I could see an aura of pure darkness enveloping him, like he embodied a solar eclipse and was swallowing all the light around him. I passed through the curtain of light.

Then all that was in my vision was a column of pure light and a void of stars. It felt like the air had been sucked from my lungs, and I was suspended in space and could see the entire world below me. I lost consciousness.


End file.
